me likey food

Marble Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2012-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Mark's birthday!! YAY! (Well, it was in December, so I'm just a little slow in posting.) My hubs is the most awesome dude in the universe, so I wanted to make a special cake for him. He was indecisive about whether he wanted a vanilla or chocolate cake, so a solution presented itself as a marble cake! And who can go wrong with a cream cheese frosting? No one, that's who!

Since I have yet to master cake making to the point where I can just think up stuff, I went in search of a reputable recipe for a marble cake. I decided on Martha Stewart's, here. I like this one namely because it was only a loaf-size vs. a whole cake size. And it got good reviews. And looked tasty.

For the frosting, that was a little easier to improvise.

1 stick butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1.5 - 2 C powdered sugar
2 t vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, and slowly add the powdered sugar a bit at a time until it whips up into a creamy tasty frosting. Try not to eat all of this with a spoon. Perhaps double the recipe, so half can go on the cake, and the other half is "to taste." (wink wink)

After the cake cooled, I cut it in half, schmeared some frosting there, put it together and lathered the whole thing in more frosting.

Mark and Chris asked for ice cream to go with it, but I don't think it needed it (gasp!). Maybe some whipped cream... But in any case, it's cake, and it's good stuff.

Butternut Squash Pasta

2012-01-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

A friend (Rebecca) and I went to visit another friend (Shakti) in NYC. It was a blast! We shopped, we ate, we talked, we just had an overall awesome time. On our last night there, we decided to stay in and make some food. Shakti had acquired some deal (a groupon, I think, or something similar) to get some pasta and sauces from a local shop - we came back with ravioli, buckwheat pasta, marinara, puttanesca, salad, and bread. It was a lot! We ended up making a little sampler - the ravioli with the marinara, and then, since Shakti had a butternut squash sitting around, the buckwheat pasta with roasted squash in a brown butter sauce. Can you say YUM?

Super easy, too! To roast the squash, first prepare by cutting it into little cubes. The smaller the cubes, the faster it'll roast up (and also the better bite-sizey). Spread out onto a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, and then season. Shakti's fabulous husband Norm had made some butternut squash soup from Michael Chiarello and had a bunch of the spice rub (recipe is at the bottom of the link) left over. So that's what we used! It's a very tasty rub - I've got some on hand now for any future needs. :)

Sprinkle the spice mixture on the squash and toss to coat. Put into a 375-400degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the squash is tender and turning a bit brown on the edges.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to the directions (whole wheat pasta also works well in this recipe). In a separate large skillet, melt a couple tablespoons of butter, and brown it. When it's toasty brown and smelling wonderful, add the squash. Toss in the pasta and some pasta water to thin it out. Stir to combine. Add a healthy portion of fresh grated parmesan, and serve!

T-day Leftovers

2012-01-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

You know what's the best part about the Czech Thanksgiving meal?

THE LEFTOVERS. I lovingly refer to this as "mish-mash."

Cut up the leftover dumplings into cubes. Remove the meat from the bone and cut/shred.

In a large skillet, melt some duck fat. When hot, add the dumplings. Let them get crispy. Then add the meat, heat through. Add some of the leftover jus from the meat pan sauce and a good helping of the cabbage. Heat it all through and serve. OMG, this is so good!! I always make extra everything just to have the leftovers.

A Traditional Czech Thanksgiving

2012-01-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

huh? The Czechs don't celebrate the US Thanksgiving... :) But we do! Basically, instead of the typical turkey, stuffing, etc., we have a traditional Czech meal. This time, of roast duck, dumplings, and cabbage. And I threw in some roasted brussels sprouts just because.

It was a small affair this year, just Mark, me, and his brother, Chris. I stayed in my comfy pyjama pants ALL DAY. I was very thankful for that!

I don't usually make the dumplings, as they're not that easy... I usually cook them with my mom, and she's a pro at this, so she never overcooks them and they're always perfect. But, I guess, I should start doing things on my own... Especially if I want to eat stuff when mom's not around (she lives ~2000 miles away). I did continue the tradition of calling her last minute to ask her how exactly to make stuff again... :) And here it all is:

Dumplings: Similar to a bread dough, but boiled instead of baked. Light and fluffy, a perfect vehicle for sauce and stuff. The amounts are not exact - as it's more a feel type of recipe (yeah, that's why I found it hard, too!), but this is a good starting point. You will need some fine twine (ha! poet!) or some unwaxed, unflavored plain dental floss (~14-18").

In a large mixer (this makes about 3-4 "logs" to be boiled) add:

3 C Wondra flour
1 T yeast
1/4 t salt
1 large egg, scrambled before adding in

Warm ~1C milk to about 100degrees. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the milk. It should form a solid dough that is not sticky, and pulls away from the bowl - much like a loaf of bread. Knead in the mixer about 5 minutes on low-medium speed. Remove the bowl, cover, place in a warm area, and let rise until doubled (~30 minutes). Turn out onto your work surface (if need-be, add a light sprinkling of flour). Cut into 3 or 4 sections, and knead/roll into logs. They shouldn't be all the same size- you want them in graduating sizes so they won't finish cooking at the same time (this will make sense in a minute). Cover again, and let rise another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, as the logs are rising, bring a LARGE (and I mean huge - the one I use is 12-13" in diameter) pot of water to a boil. When at a rolling boil, add a handful of salt, and drop in the logs of dough. Semi-cover and turn the logs with a wooden spoon every now and then (to evenly cook). After about 10-15 minutes, check the dough with a skewer - if the skewer comes out clean/dry, then it's ready. (I wish I took more pictures of this, but it was high stress and I forgot... So I'm hoping I describe it accurately.)

When a log is done, remove it from the water to a cutting board, and using the floss*, quickly slice it in half (to let the steam escape and keep the dough fluffy). This also lets you check to make sure the dough is fully cooked. (If not, add it back to the water.) Continue using the floss to cut the log into ~1" slices. Place in a bowl, cover with a towel.

This is why you want the logs in different sizes - you can't take them all out at the same time, but you also don't want the ones left in the water to overcook while you're cutting one up. So start with the smallest and work up to the largest. If overcooked, the outside will get mushy - which is still OK - just cut off the mush. This happened to me this time. It's definitely one of those things you just have to do over and over to get a feel for it.

* You might be asking, how does one cut bread with floss? A just question, my friends. Using a knife will smoosh it to nastiness. You need to be gentle... So take the string of floss and slide it underneath the log until it's about in the middle. Then lift up the two sides and cross them, as if you're about to tie it; then just pull tighter. As you pull, the floss will gently cut the dumpling evenly, maintaining the shape.

Duck: Who doesn't like roast duck??
You'll need a duck, salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. Preheat the oven to 400deg.
To prep the duck, cut off any excess/loose skin/fat. Season with the salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. Place in a large baking dish, breast side up. With a fork or something sharp, poke a bunch of holes all over the skin, to help release the fat as it cooks. Add about an inch of water to the pan.

Put in the oven. After 10-15 minutes, reduce the temp to ~375deg. Cook for a total of about 2-2.5 hours. Every now and then, poke the skin again, skim the fat (this is like GOLD - skim it and keep it to cook with later!), baste, add more water. Do this until the duck meat is tender and the skin is nice and crispy. Make sure there's lots of jus in the pan - this is what you'll pour over everything to make it super tasty. Save any leftover jus for later...

Cabbage: I posted about this here.

Roasted brussels sprouts: For some reason, after YEARS of hating brussels sprouts, I suddenly crave them. See them on a menu, BOOM. MUST. ORDER. Same thing with beets. Odd. Anyway, this one's super easy - peel the outer layer from the sprouts and cut in half. Put on a baking sheet with some chopped bacon (and chopped onions, if you want), drizzle with a teensy bit of olive oil (unless your bacon is fatty, then there isn't a need for this), sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and roast in a 400deg oven until it's nice and browned and caramelized.

Voila!

Wow. I almost summed up this post just now. AND I HAD FORGOTTEN DESSERT. Who does that? I'm ashamed. 'Cause this dessert was AMAZING. It was inspired by a dessert we had at Roy's on the Big Island of Hawaii a couple months ago - a fruit crisp with berries and papaya. Now, I'm actually not that big a fan of raw papaya (I love me some mango, but pass on the papaya). However, cooked papaya is like the heavens are raining sweet love on your tongue. Absolutely magical.

I used Ina Garten's apple and pear crisp recipe and then sub'd strawberries, blueberries, and papaya in for the fruit. At first glance, it looks like there was way too much topping - I almost didn't use it all, but then chided myself for not having faith in Ina. Figured she knows what she's doing! And it turned out perfect. With a scoop of ice cream and a dibble of fresh cinnamon whipped cream**... Content and happy. In a bowl.

** 1C heavy whipping cream, 1 t cinnamon, 1 t vanilla, 1 T fine sugar - whip it good (until medium peaks form). Taste to make sure it's sweet and tasty enough. At this point, if you want more sugar, add powdered sugar that's been sifted (the fine sugar would be too granular as it wouldn't have dissolved in the liquid anymore).

Now, that was a good meal. Glad I wore my eatin' pants!

Not so good with the speak-make

2011-12-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

Not that I'm usually effusive with stories and words, but it generally flows better than as of late. I have pictures and recipes in queue, waiting for my brilliant writing to wrap around them and be published... But it's not coming. I don't know what's up with that. Stay tuned, I'm hoping inspiration hits soon! It is the holidays, after all.

Beef Barley Stew

2011-10-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

More soup! Yum in the form of a hearty, beef and barley soup. Easy and tasty.

2 lb beef (I used a leaner, tip meat, but a nice chuck roast also works well), cut into smallish cubes
flour
1/2 bunch celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C barley (I used pearl barley)
1 qt beef broth
1 qt water
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper

After cutting the beef into chunks, dredge in flour and shake off the excess. In a large soup pot, heat some oil. Add the beef, in stages (so as not to crowd the pan), and brown. You don't need to cook the beef all the way through; just until you get some nice color on the meat and in the pan.

Remove the beef to a plate and set aside.

Add a touch more oil and add all the veggies. Season with salt and pepper. Cook about 10 minutes, until the veggies get some color of their own. Add the barley and toast another 3 minutes.

Add the beef (with all the juices), bay leaves, beef broth, and 2 C of the water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook about an hour to and hour and a half. You might need to add the rest of the water to keep enough liquid in the soup, but that's also dependent on how soupy you like it! Taste and adjust seasonings, serve hot!

I served it simply with some fresh garlic bread (bread, toasted, rubbed with a raw garlic clove right out of the toaster so the garlic oils melt onto the bread, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan).

Pork with Cabbage & Garlic Potatoes

2011-10-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had a head of cabbage in the fridge that needed some use. I decided not to go with a slaw or taco or similar, but something more homey. It had been a while since I made the good Czech cabbage - a slightly sweet and tangy, almost creamy, cooked cabbage. You get this stuff in the pubs out there; usually served with either roast pork or duck, and with dumplings. SO GOOD. Alas, I was feeling too lazy to actually do the dumplings, pork roast, and duck, but I went with a standard, easier version with much of the same flavors.

Pork chops instead of roast pork - seasoned with salt, pepper, and some caraway seeds. Lightly dusted with flour, and sauteed in a large skillet. When done, added a bit of chicken broth (or water) to the pan to scrape up all the yummy bits and make a quick sauce.

Garlic potatoes instead of dumplings - slice potatoes (I used Yukon golds), cover with cold water, bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain. In another large skillet, melt some butter and oil, when hot, add the potatoes. Cook until crispy, but about 2-3 minutes before they're done, add a BUNCH of chopped garlic and cook with the potatoes until aromatic and just starting to turn golden.

Now for the cabbage (or zeli, in Czech):

1 head cabbage, I prefer red, but the white is fine, too
1 onion, diced
salt, pepper, caraway seeds
vinegar (either white or apple cider)
flour
sugar

Now, this might be annoying as it's more a method than an actual exact recipe. But that's because no one head of cabbage is the same size. And your tastes vary. But trust me, this is hard to mess up!

In a skillet, heat oil (or, preferably, duck fat) - about 2 T. Add the onion and cook until golden and turning brown on the edges. Set aside.

Cut the cabbage into strips. I find it's easiest to cut into quarters, remove the stem, and then slice. You're looking for roughly 1/4"-1/2" thick slices. Put all this in a large pot and cover with water. Add 2 T vinegar, a good amount of salt, and about a teaspoon of the caraway seeds. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly. Cook until the cabbage is almost tender.

Before draining, reserve about 2 C of the liquid. Drain the cabbage and return it to the pan. Add the onion and all remaining oil/fat in that pan. Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of flour, couple of sugar, about 1-2 T more vinegar, and maybe about 1C of the reserved liquid. Stir around to incorporate the sugar and flour in the liquid. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking another 15-30 minutes until the cabbage is just tender. Adjust seasoning (more sugar/vinegar/salt). You might need to add more of the reserved liquid if it's too thick or it evaporates too quickly. If it's too liquidy, you can either drain off some of it and/or add more flour.

And that's that! Eat up, my friends.

Time for Soup!

2011-10-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

With the coming of fall, so comes the craving for soup. It was cold yesterday (a high of only 62!!), so I really wanted a nice, hearty soup to warm me up. What better than the traditional potato-leek soup? It's easy, fast, and quenches that soup hunger. Mmmm, soup.

Just a few ingredients are needed:

3 slices bacon, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed (or you can use yukons, and with the skins on, if you want - just make sure the skins are scrubbed clean)
1 qt chicken broth
2 T parsley, chopped
2 T dill, chopped
1 C heavy cream
1/2 C milk

In a large soup pot, melt some butter (~1T) and cook the bacon until almost crisp. Add the onion, leek, and garlic. You might need to add more butter/oil/whatever at this point, if the bacon was very lean. Sautee until tender and just turning golden. Add the potatoes and a good amount of salt and pepper. Toss to coat with the oil. Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender.

At this point, you can either cool the mixture somewhat and then puree in a blender or food processor, or do as I did, and hand smash the potatoes with a potato masher, then go in with a hand-blender stick thingy and puree it all smooth. Add the parsley, dill, cream, and milk - stir to combine. Taste and add salt, if necessary.

Serve! I like adding a good helping of cheddar cheese to round out the flavors. A simple soup to ease the crazy of a hectic day.

Hatch Green Chile Enchiladas

2011-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hatch. Just that one word makes me salivate. For those unfamiliar, Hatch is a small city in New Mexico. What's so special about it? Well, they have this magical soil that grows some of the best green chiles you can imagine. They come mild to hot, and have a wonderful, earthy flavor. There's a chile festival every year around Labor Day to celebrate the crop. In Austin, I was introduced to this chile during Chuy's Hatch chile fest. That is actually the inspiration behind these enchiladas. They had a full menu of Hatch items, but this standard always passed the test of time. It's a solid, easy recipe that embraces the chile and its bold flavor.

How surprised was I to find fresh Hatch green chiles available at the store here in Seattle? Very!! So of course, I had to get a bunch and make us some enchiladas. Arriba!

For the sauce, it's pretty basic:

bunch of Hatch chiles, roasted, seeded, peeled, and diced (~10-15 chiles)
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
flour
beef broth

In a pot with some oil, cook the onions until soft and turning golden. Add the garlic, cook for another 30 seconds or so. Sprinkle with flour (~2T) and cook, 1 minute. Stir in the chiles and slowly add beef broth until it is a saucy consistency (anywhere from 1-2 C, depending on the quantity of chiles). Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then remove from heat.

To make the enchiladas, I made a chicken stuffing. This was very simple - in a skillet, brown ground chicken seasoned with Adobo seasoning. I'm not a big fan of pre-made seasonings, but this one is pretty killer.

Put the chicken along with some shredded cheddar, monterrey jack (or a nice Mexican melting cheese; although I only had cheddar and cotija, which worked out just fine), in a warmed corn tortilla, roll, and place in a baking dish.

Once all the enchiladas are made, pour the chile sauce over it, sprinkle some more cheese, and bake until bubbly.

I served this with some avocado slices, my charro-style beans, some fresh veggies (lettuce, tomato, green onion, cilantro, lime), and a dollop of sour cream. Bringing back the tasty flavors of the south/southwest to Seattle since 2006.

I ate halibut!!

2011-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've confessed before that I'm not one who eats things from the water. It's always annoyed me, both the mental block and the distaste for it. How can I love food so much if I'm excluding a whole realm of taste? Over the years, I keep trying the various fish that my husband orders at restaurants. Lately, there have been more and more that I actually liked!

There was this amazing meal in Hawaii - on Kauai at the Beach House, it's a cold water snapper (opaka-paka, I think?), crusted in wasabi butter and served with a white wine sauce. I ate almost half of Mark's plate! Then, in Carmel, he had this dish with a fish called john dory. That was even better! Even still, I hesitate ordering something fishy at a restaurant, for fear that I might not like it and leave myself hungry. And I get grumpy when I'm hungry. So I wasn't going to take the chance of being a Grumple on a vacation.

My brother-in-law came to visit (well, actually he came to interview with some companies here in Seattle), and he is a fish nut. Like, insanely all about fish. And, living in Seattle, fish is pretty good! So we go to this restaurant, Seastar. I order the tenderloin, and the hubs and bro order this potato chip crusted halibut with an heirloom tomato and watermelon radish salad with lemon vinaigrette. I took one bite and wanted more. And I also realized, this is a local restaurant, so I can come back and order fish, and if I don't finish it 'cause it tastes weird, I'm ok with being grumpy for a bit, 'cause I then can go home and have a snack to de-grumpify myself. It's a low-risk scenario!

I know this post is delving way too much into my crazy psyche, but whatever. You will come to realize I have to over analyze EVERYTHING. I'm quite "detail-oriented."

So anyway, on with the story. We went to Seastar again, this time with some friends, and I ORDERED THE HALIBUT. AND I ATE EVERY LAST BIT OF IT. The only think left on the plate was a little bit of the tomato, 'cause there was a lot of it. But all the fish was gone. And it tasted AMAZING. Sadly, this is only on their "seasonal" menu, but that potato chip halibut will forever remain my #1.

Any good restauarants you know of in the Seattle area that have amazing fish? That's a good "starter" fish to eat? Salmon is still too fishy for me, but eventually, I think I'll like it... I can also do some sushi.... So yeah, it's a start! YAY! And I think I may even order some fish on our next trip to Hawaii. Recommendations for the Big Island? :)

The PA posse

2011-09-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Mark, my dear husband, is from a little town in Northeast Pennsylvania called Carbondale. It's just near Scranton. Most people had no idea where that was, either, until The Office made it popular. So now everyone knows. :)

We went for a visit over Labor Day. There was lots of family gatherings, barbeque, and their pet parrot, Sedona.

One of the tasty meals we made was rotisserie chicken! Served simply with some garlic bread, it was divine.

Season the whole chicken with whatever flavors you like. This time, we used salt, pepper, paprika, and some dried herbs. Set it on rotisserie, wrap with food-twine, and cook until done. It turns out so incredibly juicy, so being served with garlic bread made a great juice receptacle.

Here's a picture of JoeDad as he took the chicken off the grill (he's the grillmaster of the house). With the necessary glass of wine, of course!

And here is MomC, taking over and getting the chicken prepped to eat! Such concentration is necessary, she had to put down her glass of wine.

The garlic bread was also made simply - melting some butter with oil and some crushed garlic, heating through until the garlic bubbles. Spreading it on bread, and topping with parmesan and parsley. Bake in a 400 deg oven until toasted. Cut into wedges.

It was a great start to a long weekend with the family.

Oh, and here's a picture of Sedona, as she's contemplating whether or not to eat your finger.

Grilled Pork with Cauliflower Mash & Spinach

2011-09-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the old standby of grilled pork tenderloin. One of the easiest meals, and provides lots of leftovers.

We made this tenderloin with a side of roasted garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes and garlic Sriracha spinach. It all cooks up very quickly, and is a balanced and flavorful meal.

I've posted the recipe for the grilled pork tenderloin before, here, so I won't repeat. But I will post another lovely picture of the result.

The spinach, I've posted in previous posts, but basically heat some sliced garlic in olive oil until it starts to bubble and turn golden, then add a bunch of spinach, toss until wilted, seasoning with salt and Sriracha to taste. Takes about 5 minutes total. If that.

For the cauliflower potatoes, you will need:

small head of cauliflower, washed and cut into segments
5-6 cloves garlic, in skins (for roasting), drizzled with olive oil and loosely wrapped in foil
1-2 potatoes (I like yukon golds), peeled and cubed
milk
butter
salt, pepper

On the grill (or in a hot oven), place the foil packet with the garlic cloves and roast until golden and tender. Cool slightly and remove the garlic from the skins.

In a pot with water, add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Drain. Add the garlic.

In a skillet, add the cauliflower, couple tablespoons of butter, and start with ~1/2 - 3/4 C milk. Bring to a simmer, with the lid on, and cook about 5-6 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.

Add the cauliflower (with the milk & butter) to the potatoes and mash together. Add more milk/butter as you see fit, depending on how creamy you like your mash. Season with salt and pepper. You can barely distinguish the cauliflower, so this is a great way to "sneak" in veggies into a meal. You can even omit the potatoes after a while - plain mashed cauliflower is delicious on its own!

Teriyaki Salmon with Pineapple Salsa

2011-08-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's summer!! That means grilling. While the rest of the country was having insane heat, Seattle was having an incredibly mild summer... We finally hit the hottest day of the year on 8/23, with a high of 87. Or something ridiculous like that. So we finally have summer in August! Yaaaay!!

My brother-in-law came to visit over the weekend, and he is NUTS about fish. Like, really. I think if he could marry fish, he would. ;) So yeah, whenever we asked him what he wanted to eat it was "fish" or "whatever, I'm just a number." We decided to honor his fish request. So off we went to the local fish monger, and got us a chunk of salmon. There's this whole long story, which I won't bore you with, but for future reference - regardless if the fish dude says the fish is fresh today, ask to SMELL IT. Stoopid guy gave us like day or two old salmon, and it just wasn't all that great... And we had to overcook it, just in case - to make sure we don't get salmonella, because apparently salmon is a big carrier of it (as my husband found out the hard way last year after having some bad salmon sushi). So yeah.

But that doesn't mean this recipe is a bust! I also did the same thing on pork chops and it turned out AMAZING!! So tasty. I will, therefore, write this up for both pork and salmon.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, but I forgot to take a "before" picture, so I've posted, instead, a much more action-packed half-eaten meal. It's my artistic side coming out.

Teriyaki sauce: the recipe is outlined in a previous blog post, here.

After prepping the salmon and pork chops, place in a zippie and pour some teriyaki over it and let it marinade for about 30-60 minutes.

We grilled the salmon on a cedar plank. The pork was grilled straight up.

The pineapple salsa is a great accompaniment to the meat! And it's pretty easy.

1 pineapple, sliced and grilled; then cut into large chunks
1 red bell pepper, grilled/roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t freshly grated ginger
1 small red onion, finely diced
2+ jalapenos, minced (more/less depending on how spicy you like it)
1/4 C cilantro, chopped
juice of 1-2 limes
salt, to taste

In a food processor, puree the pineapple, bell pepper, garlic and ginger. Pour into a bowl and fold in the rest. Serve immediately, or let set in the fridge for all the flavors to meld. Extra can be served with chips!

With this, I also made some snow peas quickly sauteed in olive oil and thinly sliced garlic. Prep the snow peas by removing the stem end and then cutting the pea pod in half. In a large skillet, place 1-2 cloves thinly sliced garlic and some olive oil. Slowly bring up to medium heat. Once the garlic starts sizzling, add the snow peas and toss. Add some salt and Sriracha. Cook about 2 minutes, then serve!

My hair is short.

2011-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

So this post has absolutely nothing to do with food.

It deals with hair.

Yes, hair. I'm a girl, and will dedicate a blog post to my hair. Deal. ;)

the long stuff

For 20-some-odd years, I've had loooong hair. A couple years ago, I took a giant leap and got bangs. They turned out ok! Since then, I've been contemplating getting short hair. But I was terrified. I know, it's ridiculous to put so much stock in hair, right? But I'm not claiming to be sane or anything, so just go with me. I'm kinda like a cat, not so much liking change. But if you don't change, you don't grow. And I've learned a lot the past few years, going through a lot of change in life (a big move, houses, pets, sickness, stress, jobs, life in general) - change happens. It's not so scary. If I could move half way across the country, I could cut my hair. It's ridiculous just writing that sentence.

I guess it's also about control... A lot of my life, I've always felt I had a lack of it in all aspects of life. I've taken it out in a pseudo-OCD way, my own little neuroses in an attempt to control things I can't. To have consistency. Reliability. Safety. I have to have my kitchen *just so.* Certain things need to be done in a certain way, or I grimace. Over the years, I've gotten better with this, taking a deep breath and letting things go however they will. I've seen that accepting the fact that you can't control everything isn't actually a bad thing. There's still some work on me left, but I figure letting go of ridiculous things is a good step. Including my completely ludicrous fear of short hair.

Anyway, I figured the way to push me to go through with it was to chop off a large chunk and donate it. Apparently Locks of Love is shady (reddit), so the alternatives are Pantene Beautiful Lengths or Wigs 4 Kids. This time around, I've chosen Pantene. Knowing that my hair will go to making some lovely lady feel beautiful again makes it worth the potential not liking of a hair style.

On Friday, I went to my hairstylist, Levi, at Gene Juarez, and he chopped off a whole foot of hair!! And I think the style turned out OK! I'm amazed at how much lighter it is... And when we go to Hawaii later on, I think I will love the easiness of swimming with short hair vs. all the tangles of long hair... I now know my earlier hesitation was just fear; and has resulted in yet another change I've experienced that has gone pretty well. Yes, change is scary, but sometimes it is for the best! It's found me the most amazing husband in the world. It's taken me to Seattle, where I have found a city and area that I have completely fallen in love with - a place I finally feel like I fit in - have found more peace and happiness than anywhere else I've lived. And now I've got a bangin' new hair cut to go with it.

Ok, so that's that! A long, random blog about hair.

Done.

Barley Risotto

2011-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Barley is an ancient grain that is used in a wide range of things, from an algicide, to alcohol, to food. It's considered a very nutritious grain, and contains eight essential amino acids. (Thanks google & wikipedia!)

It's great as a noodle substitute in soups (see my chicken soup recipe), and can stand in as a nuttier alternative to rice and other grains. This time, I used it in a risotto!

It takes a lot longer than regular rice risotto - roughly 45 minutes vs. rice's 18 minutes. But it's well worth it! And doesn't require as much babysitting.

You will need:

1 small onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh thyme
3/4 C pearl barley
1 C dry white wine
1 qt chicken broth
parmesan
optional: heavy cream

In a large skillet, sautee the onion, garlic, and thyme in some olive oil and/or butter. When golden, add the barley and toast another 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and simmer. When most of the wine has evaporated, add 1-2 C chicken broth. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, and continue to add more broth as it evaporates, until the barley is tender, about 45 minutes total.
To finish, stir in a handful of grated parmesan, and a tablespoon or two of heavy cream.

This time, we served it with minimally seasoned pork chops (Adobo + fresh thyme) and some roasted carrots.

Maple Dijon Pork with Cotija Corn

2011-08-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

I've written often about the magical combination of maple and mustard... And this is just one more time. Likely not the last. :)

The pork chops were seasoned with a nice maple rub, and then sauteed. Once removed from the pan, I added a teaspoon of mustard (Dijon), a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and about 1/8 - 1/4 C chicken stock. Reduced it down a bit.

For the corn: 2 ears fresh corn. Grill for about 20-30 minutes (in the husks). Remove from husks, and cut the kernels off (using the nested bowl method - one large bowl with a small bowl inverted within. Place the ear of corn on the small bowl and using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off. The larger bowl catches all the kernels, while the smaller bowl holds the ear up high enough for you to use your knife down the whole length). Season with a sprinkling of Adobo seasoning, add a teaspoon of both butter and mayo, and then crumble in a handful of cotija cheese. Stir to combine.

Easy peasy!

Croque Monsieur, the Sophisticated Sandwich

2011-08-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

A while ago, we took a trip down to Carmel, CA. When driving back up to the airport, we stopped at this lovely little French bistro for lunch. We ended up having one of the greatest lunches ever! It was incredibly simple, but full of delicious flavor, and we all know I'm a fan of that.

I finally got around to testing it out myself! And I must say, it turned out yummy. Serve this with a nice salad tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette (or lemon, or whatever your heart fancies) - you've got a great meal.

Cheese sauce:

1 T butter
1 T flour
1 C milk
3/4 - 1 C grated gruyere cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk for a couple minutes. Slowly add in the milk, and bring to a bubble. Let it thicken for a few minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, some fresh cracked black pepper, and optionally a dash of nutmeg.

On a small baguette, cut lengthwise and to the desired size, slather on some Dijon. Top with sliced ham (not the boiled ham, but a good, roast ham that has flavor). Drizzle on the cheese sauce, and top with a little extra cheese.

Place under the broiler until bubbly and turning a bit brown. Remove from oven and lest rest a couple minutes before serving.

Serve, open faced, with a little bowl of extra Dijon, and a good sharp knife for cuttin'.

Souvlaki, finally a picture!

2011-07-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

Way back in my first post.... (here) There was a recipe for souvlaki, sans a picture. Well, of the many times we've made it since then, I finally remembered to take a picture!

And here it is:

Herbed Chicken with Noodles

2011-07-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it rains out here in Seattle. Sometimes it's OK, and we still end up grilling outside. But other times, you don't want to open the door and just cook something the old fashioned way, on the stove. This was one of those times!

We got an Aerogarden for Christmas a couple years back from the in-laws. (Thanks again!!) We are currently growing herbs. And there are a lot of herbs. So I'm wanting to utilize them in all the cooking I do. This time, I chose to do thyme and oregano rubbed chicken breasts.

In a bowl, put a large dollop of Dijon mustard. Add a generous helping of chopped, fresh herbs. For a 2 person serving, I used about 2-3 T mustard with 1-2 T herbs. Add a dash of vinegar (1 t apple cider), stir to combine. Set aside ~1 T, use the rest to rub the chicken. Rub it good. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat a skillet, add some oil, and sautee the chicken until done (2-4 mins/side, depending on the cut and thickness of the chicken). Remove the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil. In the skillet, add the remaining mustard rub, plus about 1/4 C chicken broth and a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup. Bring to a boil, scraping up all the chicken residue in the pan, and let reduce a touch.

Serve the chicken with the sauce. This time, I decided to use some egg noodles, and then had a side salad.

It's America Day, Let's Eat Meat

2011-07-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

We had a fleeting moment where we were thinking, let's not do anything for the 4th, just chill at home, maybe do something small on the grill...

Yeah, whatever with that.

We ended up smoking some brisket and some ribs - and delicious flavor was had. Man, it turned out SO GOOD. I'm still in a meat coma, and it's over a week later. Had a couple friends over to help us eat the 329 lbs of meat (note: slight exaggeration on quantity of meat, but I'm allowed to take some liberties on this blog).

For appetizers and snacks whilst the main meal was cookin', there was spinach artichoke dip (half eaten in the picture 'cause I forgot to take one before we all tore into it) and hush puppies. It was my first go at hush puppies (I don't do much deep frying at home), and they turned out pretty good, I must say!

The dip, well, I don't have a recipe for that. It's really hard to mess up, though. 1 box frozen spinach, thawed and rung out. 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped. Put this in a pot with 1/3 of an 8oz pkg of cream cheese and heat until the cream cheese is melted. In an oven-proof dish, put a couple handfuls of shredded mozzarella, a couple of shredded fontina, ~2T parmesan, ~1/4 C sour cream, and ~1/4 C mayo. Add the artichoke/spinach/cream cheese mixture, and stir it to combine - and add a bit of salt and pepper. Top with a sprinkling of more parmesan, and bake at 350-375 until it's bubbly. Ta-da! Feel free to add/subtract whatever you want.

For the hush puppies (and regular cornbread muffins), take a package of Krusteaz honey cornbread mix. Add everything the box says to except the oil. Fry up a couple slices of bacon (chopped). When done, move the crisped bacon pieces to a paper towel to drain, and pour the bacon grease into a measuring cup. Add enough oil to get the right quantity (I think the box says 1/3 C?), then add this to the mix for the oil part. Add some chopped scallions, chopped pickled jalapenos, and some shredded cheddar.

Bring a pot of peanut oil to ~350-375 degrees and, with a small cookie scoop (brilliant idea from the hubs!), drop spoons of batter into the oil. Cook, turning regularly, until it's cooked through. I used a skewer to make sure the inside was done. Remove to a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels. Keep warm in the oven.

OR for just regular baked cornbread, bake according to the pkg directions. We did a 2nd box baked as 24 mini-muffins. They appear to have molded into boob or butt shaped pairs of muffins... But still tasty.

Served the hush puppies with a dip. Don't remember exactly what went into it, but it was something like: Whisk or stir together 1/2 C sour cream, 3-4 green onions (minced), 2 T mayo, 2-3 T buttermilk, salt, pepper, 1-2 t sugar.

On to the main course! The Big Green Egg makes this foolproof!

BRISKET - rub this baby with yellow mustard, then a simple rub comprised of: 2 parts salt + 1 part pepper + 1/2 part cayenne. Smoke at 200-225 for 1 hr, 15 min for each lb of meat. Smoke it fat side up, so as the fat melts, it keeps the meaty parts moist. Let rest at least 15-30 minutes (up to 2 hours, wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler), then slice across the grain (remember the brisket is in 2 pieces - kinda like a T - cut these two pieces first, as each has the grain running in different directions).

RIBS (baby backs) - Remove the membrane, and then smear with yellow mustard, and we use BRITU as the rub. Smoke these for 5-6 hours at 200-225. For the last hour, remove the ribs and wrap with heavy-duty aluminum foil. For the last 20 minutes, remove from foil and just grill to get the crunch back.

For both of these, mop or spray with apple juice every so often (hourly) to maintain moisture.

We made 2 types of sauces, one an ancho chile sauce made for brisket, and the other our standard tomato based sauce for the ribs!

I made the cole slaw from an earlier post (here), and the beans from an earlier post (here), some homemade white bread (in our breadman), and that was it!

Dessert, I made Czech kolaches (the sheet-cake version) with berries & cream cheese as the topper.

I also made these awesome shirts for Sara and me to commemorate the occasion.

my lovely friend Sara

Cedar Planked Salmon and Chicken

2011-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again - the wild Copper River salmon time! And how best to prepare this fine fish? On a cedar plank and grilled, of course.

So, since I was outed in a previous post that I don't really eat seafood (ugh, I know)*, I also cedar planked up some chicken breast with the same sauce: Lemon-garlic-dill-mustard. WIN!

Start by soaking a cedar plank in water at least 2 hours, to make sure it's nice and moist and won't burst into flames on the grill.

For the sauce:

2 T Dijon
juice from 2 lemons
1 T fresh, chopped dill
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T EVOO
salt, pepper

Whisk all of this in a bowl.

Heat up the grill. Place the fish (and chicken) on the cedar plank and drizzle with some of the sauce. When the grill is hot (350-400deg), place the plank on the grill and cook until the salmon and chicken are done (the chicken should be firm to the touch, the salmon slightly less so). Remove and let rest (covered with foil) for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, bring the remaining sauce to a boil. Add a couple T of chicken broth or water, and reduce.

For a side, I made quinoa with fresh corn. Follow the package directions to cook the quinoa. Grill the corn until done, remove from husks and remove the kernels from the cob. Add the corn to the quinoa, add some butter (1-2 t), season with salt.

To serve, plate the fish with the quinoa, and drizzle some sauce over the whole thing!

* No, I don't hate America. I just don't like seafood. However, I am trying to like it... There are a few dishes I can actually eat some of....

Shortcut to Mushrooms

2011-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

So I found these sprinkled throughout my back yard.

I doubt they're edible, but man, they are prolific.

Easy Chicken

2011-07-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

When you don't have much time, but want to make something tasty, this (along with the other recipes on the blog touted as such) is a go-to meal. It's easy, quick, and delicious. I don't think it even takes 30 minutes, including the sides!

I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and halve them to make thin cutlets. These I sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, marjoram, paprika, and a light dusting of flour. In a large skillet, I sautee them until done. Remove to a plate and cover with foil. In the pan, add some chicken broth and scrape the bits from the pan. Let this reduce a bit, and add a couple tablespoons of sour cream. Stir. Pour over chicken. Done.

This time I had some itty-bitty potatoes, which I cooked, then lightly smashed with the palm of my hand to flatten a bit. In another skillet, I heated some olive oil and then added these smooshed potatoes. Seasoned with salt and pepper, and added a bunch of crushed garlic, cooked until crispy on the outside. Done.

Also, I had some baby spinach and a bunch of baby zucchini. In yet another skillet, heated up some oil and added the baby zucchini (which I halved on the diagonal). Once they got a bit browned, I added some sliced garlic, a lot of spinach, salt, pepper, and Sriracha. Cooked that until the spinach wilted. Done.

My Birthday, Vancouver edition

2011-06-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

The past few years, I wasn't really able to celebrate my birthday, as we had to travel around to various locales for weddings and such. This year, nothing was going on, so I got to stay local! Mark decided that a long weekend in Vancouver would be the ticket. Just a few hours away, but far enough to detach and enjoy things.

We left early on a Friday morning, getting to Vancouver (BC, not Washington) right before lunch. Checked into the hotel, then headed out for a nice walk around, since the weather was AMAZING. We walked up to Gastown to a lunch place that I have been dying to try: Meat and Bread. I know, right?? It sounds like the most perfect place on earth.

It is.

The sandwiches are actually not *that* big! But they are filling. I had the porchetta with crispy pork skin. YES - CRISPY PORK SKIN. I about cried with pure joy at eating this. It is definitely a place I will dream about when I'm not there. Thank goodness Vancouver's not that far away....

Afterwards, we walked around a bit more, had some coffee, then took a LONG nap. Naps are awesome.

For dinner, we headed out to West - BEST. RESTAURANT. EVER. We come here every time we get to Vancouver. It is one of my all time favorite restaurants. The food is consistently top notch, the wait staff is knowledgeable and attentive, and I just love it here. The Four O'Clock is the best beverage ever made. Their rotating specials are always on point. I have nothing bad to say about this place.

Plus they write happy birthday on your dessert plate. :)

Saturday, we drove up north and stopped at a couple parks to do some hiking and see some waterfalls! The Pacific NW has some of the most beautiful, scenic areas. We hiked only a few miles total, but it was gorgeous and I could bore you with all the millions of pictures, but I won't. Just this one of Mark and me. We actually ended up going all the way up to Whistler and checking out the Village. In the summer time they have mountain biking down the slopes! Next time we'll have to come better prepared, because that sounds awesome (and slightly leg-breaking, but whatevs).

After that full day, we didn't want too much for dinner, and also didn't want to have to dress up, so we chose to go to a local brew pub, Alibi Room. Just what we wanted! I fell in love with Nut Brown beer. Had a sandwich. Walked the 200 blocks to/from the hotel. Good times!

Sunday, though we had to leave, we spent the morning in Stanley Park - we rented mountain bikes and just biked all around and then through the trails in the park for a couple hours. A lot of fun! It's definitely worth doing, and biking gets you around a lot faster than walking.

All in all, a memorable and fun birthday weekend. Kinda took the sting off getting old.... :)

My Birthday, part 1

2011-06-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

My birthday was a couple weeks ago (eek!). On the day of, my wonderful husband cooked dinner for me. He went so far as to write up a menu the day before and let me choose what I wanted to have! He's awesome. :) Anyway, so I chose a Last Word, with a starter of bruschetta, and for the main course, grilled chicken breasts with a fresh tomato and macaroni salad with oregano oil. We skipped dessert, as we were heading to Vancouver for a long weekend the next day, where all sorts of yummy food would be consumed.

He did all the grocery shopping, all the cooking, and all the cleaning up. He did all this - knowing that I would fully realize he can do everything himself, and use this fact to my advantage. I'm thinking about starting a one-day-a-week-Mark-does-everything thing.... I can sit back and knit or play video games. I like this idea.

The meal turned out amazing! We are definitely making this a repeat.

the bruschetta

The bruschetta - he sliced baguette thinly, toasted lightly, then rubbed with a raw garlic clove. Topped the whole thing off with freshly chopped tomatoes, oregano, and basil, then drizzled with fancy extra virgin olive oil and tart/sweet aged balsamic. YUM!!

The chicken was simply done - boneless/skinless chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs in an infused oil (which he made himself). The pasta was tossed with the herb oil, fresh tomatoes, and fresh parmesan. It blended wonderfully, was light and perfectly flavorful for a birthday dinner.

Mark - you rock my world. Thanks for a fantastic birthday! Oh, and the pics taken from here on out were done using my fancy new camera that he got me (a Canon Powershot Elph 500ES)!

Next: a write up of the equally fantastic long weekend in Vancouver!

Chicken Donburi

2011-06-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Mmmm... Japanese food... Chicken donburi has become almost a weekly meal at our house. It's easy, it's tasty, and it's not too bad for you. It has a good range of flavors for your palate. Can't really go wrong with this one! This makes 4 servings, but we eat 2 and then have the other 2 as leftovers.

1 lb ground chicken (or chicken that you've minced finely or put in a food processor)
4-5 T soy sauce
1.5 T sugar
3 T mirin
1 t Sriracha
1/2-1 lb snow peas, halved
eggs
rice

Cook the rice. We love our rice cooker. One of the best. investments. ever.

In a large skillet, add the first 5 ingredients and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the snow peas and toss to heat through a couple minutes.

Cook the eggs sunny-side up. Or you can use soft-boiled eggs. Or over-easy.

Serve the chicken over the rice, and the egg on top. I drizzle a bit more soy over the top and then have a little extra Sriracha on the side.

Palacinky

2011-06-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

Palacinky - the Czech version of crepes! Growing up, my mom would make this to make my sister and me get up out of bed on the weekends. The sweet, sweet smell of these cooking on the stove wafting into our rooms... It's better than that Folger's commercial. *That* is a smell that makes me smile. When we go visit my mom, this is always on the request list! Though I can, and sometimes do, make it myself, it's just not the same. I don't have the awesome pan that Mom has - that has YEARS of palacinky making in it... I'm still on the hunt for just the right pan to start seasoning myself as a palacinky-only pan... But, I digress. I now share with you the magical recipe (which can be increased appropriately). Below makes about 9-10 crepes.

2 C milk (whole or 2%)
1 large egg
2 t granulated sugar
pinch salt
1/2+ C flour

Whisk all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add enough flour to get to the right consistency (a very loose batter - tempura-ish).

In a large skillet, coat the bottom with vegetable oil or butter. Pour a ladle of the batter into the pan and swirl around to spread it around. Let cook ~2 minutes, until you see bubbles appear and the batter tighten. Flip gently to cook the other side, about 45-60 seconds. Remove to a large plate and keep warm as you cook the rest.

The first one or two crepes might become "mess ups" as you get the hang of it (the pan not hot enough, etc.)... This is actually preferred, as it lets you taste the goods before everyone else. And that is the number one perk to being the one who cooks. :)

Also, once you near the end of the batter, you can make "baby crepes", as they are pretty awesome.

To serve/eat: place one on your plate, schmear on some jam of your choice (I alternate between raspberry, apricot, and strawberry), roll up, and eat. You may also get all fancy and add fresh fruit, whipped cream, yogurt, whatever. But then that may require the additional use of a fork and knife to eat.

Now open up! nom-nom-nom-nom

A couple things revisited

2011-06-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

In the past week, I made a few of the staples I try to keep on hand. But there are a couple things I noted this time around.

For the Chocolate Sauce - I usually use a 10% Dutch process cocoa from King Arthur (double-dutch dark cocoa). However, this time, I decided to try a full fat cocoa, to see the flavor differences (Bensdorp dutch process cocoa). I used the same recipe as always (posted here), but the resultant sauce was thicker - more like a fudge than a sauce. Which makes sense, thinking about it, so note to check the fat content of the cocoa you use and adjust the amount of water or cocoa powder accordingly to get the desired texture.

The next one was the Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins. Same recipe, but added some chopped walnuts - EXTRA YUM. Don't know why I didn't have them there before! Add ~1/4 chopped nuts to the batter, no need to adjust anything else.

Potato Pancakes

2011-05-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is another one from the Mom Cookbook - good 'ol potato pancakes! These are heavy on the garlic but YUM.

4-5 large potatoes, grated
1 onion, grated
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
2-3 T flour
2 t marjoram
salt, pepper

After grating the potatoes, squeeze out any excess moisture. You could also par-cook the potatoes prior to grating - this will reduce the amount of stickiness, giving it a bit more fluffy texture.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. The seasoning should be adjusted to the size and amount of potatoes. Stir in enough flour to pull everything together.

In a large (iron) skillet, heat about 1/4" - 1/2" oil or lard to ~350-375. Gently spoon the batter into the skillet and shallow fry, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through (2-4 minutes). Take care not to crowd the pan, and work in batches.

Olejova' Ba'bovka (a Czech bundt cake)

2011-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Looking for a foolproof dessert? Look no further! This cake looks elegant, but is one of the easiest recipes. And you'll likely have all the ingredients already in your pantry.

photo by my sister, who takes awesome pictures

It's a Czech cake called "olejova' ba'bovka" or, translated, "oil cake." So that doesn't sound too awesome, but it really is - just uses oil instead of butter.

Anyway, here's how it's done:

3 C Wondra flour (AP flour will make this too dense; Wondra can be found in most stores)
2 C sugar
2 T baking powder
2 eggs
1 C vegetable or canola oil
1 C milk
2 T chopped walnuts or pecans or almonds (optional)
2 T cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter and flour a bundt pan.

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine all ingredients except the cocoa powder. Pour 2/3 - 3/4 of the batter into the bundt pan. In the remaining batter, mix in the cocoa powder. Pour this over the batter in the bundt pan (centered, if you can manage). Do not stir in.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the bundt pan 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Optional: Heat 1/2 C of rum/brandy/whiskey with 1/2 C sugar until it comes to a boil. Poke holes into the top of the warm cake (so right after inverting it onto the cooling rack) and pour the sauce over the cake slowly (in stages), letting it soak through. (You could do this prior to inverting, but I found that doing so made the bottom of the cake stick to whatever you put it on, thus tearing it up upon serving. So do whichever you want.)

Finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar, slice, and serve!

Tabouleh

2011-05-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is something I grew up with - my Mom would make this every now and then, and I loved the tangy zest of the lemon, the herbiness of the fresh parsley, the coolness of the cucumber, and the bite of the cracked wheat. Later I found out it was pretty healthy, too. (what??!)

It's a pretty easy recipe, just has a lot of sittin' and soakin' needs.

1 C cracked wheat (bulgur)
1 C water
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 lb tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 - 3/4 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 C parsley, chopped
2 T olive oil
salt, pepper

Soak the bulgur in the water for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Put the soaked bulgur in a large mixing bowl with the garlic, lemon zest, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, and parsley. Pour the lemon juice over this and stir to combine. Let rest 1 hour.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the oil, stir, and let rest again 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Store in the fridge, and the wheat will continue to soak in all the delightful flavors and just get better and more tender!

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was Sunday. To all the moms out there: Thanks for being awesome! (I'm posting this a few days late because I wanted to make sure Mom got the present I'm about to discuss.)

Making apple strudel for the holidays.

This year, my sister and I decided to put together a mini cookbook of some of the favorite recipes she's taught us throughout our lives. Mom was the one who taught us the art of cooking, the magic of a home-cooked meal... The long hours and days spent in the kitchen, preparing for holidays. With a glass of Gewurstraminer. The visits home to just cook anything - relishing the time together, the laughter, the learning, the love... Even through the silent concentration of a task. Knowing Mom is there. Even hundreds of miles away, when we're not in the same kitchen, I know she's here with me, always. Though only a small item of 30 some-odd pages, this cookbook is just a little symbol of how much she means to us.

The next few posts on here will be some recipes from that book - from my childhood, as I grew up cooking in the kitchen.

I'm not very good with the words, so I'll just end with this poem for all you wonderful moms:

You were there when we took our first steps,
And went unsteadily across the floor.
You pushed and prodded: encouraged and guided,
Until our steps took us out the door.

You worry now "Are they ok?"
Is there more you could have done?
As we walk the paths of our unknown
You wonder "Where have my children gone?"

Where we are is where you have led us,
With your special love you showed us a way,
To believe in ourselves and the decisions we make.
Taking on the challenge of life day-to-day.

And where we go you can be sure,
In spirit you shall never be alone.
For where you are is what matters most to us,
Because to us that will always be home.

--Anonymous

Maple Dijon Chicken with Spinach

2011-05-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

I like the sweet/tangy/spicy flavor combination of maple and Dijon, as is shown in a previous post of this marriage with pork, and now it's with chicken! A slight variation on the meat prep, which turned out even better than before.

Rub the chicken with a maple rub - I love the one from Vermont Trade Winds. (This is also the place I get my maple sugar in bulk.) In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook a few minutes per side until it's done. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and cider vinegar to the skillet to deglaze. Add about 1/4-1/2 C of chicken broth, and simmer until reduced a bit.

In another skillet, pour in some olive oil. Add a good helping of minced or thinly sliced garlic and turn on the heat. When the garlic starts bubbling, is fragrant, and is just starting to turn golden, add a ton of spinach (8 oz pkg or more). Sprinkle with salt and crushed red pepper flakes, and gently turn the spinach into the garlic and olive oil to wilt. It takes only a couple minutes to wilt the spinach. You could also add a bit of Sriracha to spice it up even more.

Serve on a warmed plate - the chicken with the sauce poured all over it, and the spinach on the side. Quick, easy, and delicious!

When You're Sick - the Chicken Soup Remedy

2011-05-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

After some traveling, inevitably you get sick at some point. We went to Carmel for our anniversary, then Mark went to Vancouver for work... And then he got sick upon his return. :( What does one eat when sick?

Chicken soup, of course! It's a time honored tradition, and magically does help make one feel better.

Doesn't just looking at the picture already make you all warm and cozy inside? Mmmm...

I had some chicken parts frozen - the backs from spinectomies I've performed on some chickens I wanted to flatten out, along with some giblets (the necks, stomachs, hearts - I always eat the livers fresh... mmm). So I made a good solid chicken stock from this. But lacking a bunch of bones, you could buy a whole chicken and cut it up, or use some bone-in breasts/thighs/legs/wings/whatever is on sale.

chicken bones of some sort
carrots
celery
onion
garlic
bay leaves
salt, pepper
water

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, add a bit of oil. Add the chicken and start browning. Meanwhile, cut a couple carrots into large chunks (so 1 carrot into say, 3 pieces) - no need to peel the carrot first. The vegetables will only be used to flavor the stock, they'd be too smooshy to use in the final soup. Add to the pot. Same with a couple ribs of celery. The onion - no need to take off the skin (just the super loose stuff) - cut it in half (through the root, so it stays together). Throw that in. The garlic - take about 3-4 cloves, whole, in the skin, lightly smash with a knife, and throw it in the pot. Add salt & pepper to season everything in there, add a couple bay leaves, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook about 45 min to 1 hour.

If you're just using bones and such (i.e., no actual meat on the bones) - remove them and the vegetables to the yard waste bin, strain the broth through a fine meshed sieve. I take another large pot or bowl and strain it into that, then either wash the original pot to finish the soup in, or use the fresh pot I strained the stock into.

If you're using a whole chicken or chicken pieces with meat on it - remove that to a plate, let cool, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat, saving it for the soup. Strain the rest as above.

Since I used just bones, I needed some type of meat to replace the shredded chicken - why not little chicken meatballs? The store didn't have ground chicken, but they did have Italian chicken sausage links, so I used that.

For the meatballs:

1 lb Italian chicken sausage links, removed from casings
1/2-3/4 C bread crumbs
1 egg
salt, pepper
2-4 T water

Put all this in a bowl and gently combine.

Bring the strained chicken stock to a boil. At this point, I add some barley - depending on how much stock you have, use anywhere from 1/2 C to 1+ C of barley. It needs to cook for at least 50 minutes to get tender. I like adding barley instead of noodles for a couple reasons: 1) it's healthier, and 2) it doesn't continue to suck in all the broth as it sits in the fridge ending up in a mass of soggy noodles without any broth left. If you want to use noodles - cook them separately, and add them to the individual bowls of soup as you serve. Toss leftovers with a bit of oil to keep from sticking and store in a zippie in the fridge next to the soup.

When there's about 20-30 minutes left of the barley cook time, make the meatballs (about 1t sized) and drop them in the boiling soup. Once they're all dropped, you can prep the rest of the veggies. While cooking, you may need to skim the surface to remove any fat. Since I used the backs, necks, etc - there was a good 1/2 inch or so of fat at the top that I had to skim off. A little is ok, and actually necessary for taste, but that was way too much.

For the vegetables, you'll need to prep the following:

1 or 2 carrots, diced into about 1/4-1/2" pieces
1/4 small onion, diced
the center ribs of celery - with leaves and everything, chopped
1/2 C parsley, chopped
6-10 or more cloves garlic, minced (YES - a LOT of garlic! Garlic helps you heal, so eat lots, don't care about the smell. It really does help. So eat it. Eat a lot of it. I usually just use the rest of the head from which I took the 3-4 cloves to make the stock.)

Add this to the soup, and cook about 10 minutes.

Serve hot, with some crackers or garlic bread! And start to feel better soon.

Unfortunately, my immune system was insufficient in staving off the hubs' cold... And, in turn, I fell ill. Mark, being awesome, followed this recipe and made me chicken soup! Since I used up all the chicken bones, he just bought a large bone-in breast and shredded the meat.

It turned out super tasty, and I think is part of the reason I got better really quickly. :)

Fancy Pants Hoity Toity Cocktails

2011-04-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

You know, old people are right.

As you get older, your tastes change, including your likes and dislikes of certain beverages. For the longest time, I hated red wine. Now I love it, and rarely drink white at all anymore. Same goes for liquor - I used to solely go for the girly sweet vodka drinks. But recently - some friends have gotten us onto this gourmet cocktail swing (Rebecca - the one who convinced me to start this blog! So kudos again, Rebecca), and I have discovered I love gin. I love herby concoctions. I love the variety of liqueurs and flavorings that go into these trendy drinks. I've become a cocktail snob. I get disappointed when going to a restaurant and can't order a Last Word or Clover Club or something similar.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite drinks, that we now make at home every now and then. I hope you try them - some have interesting ingredients, but they're all delicious!

Some basics:

Simple syrup is made by heating equal parts sugar and water until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and chill. Add a bit of vodka (~1T per 1 C of ss) to act as a preservative. It'll stay in the fridge for a while.
Grenadine - please don't buy that HFCS crap... You can easily make your own. Here are two methods. Both are tasty. If you're not going to use them quickly, add the vodka to help extend its life in the fridge. Or keep it in the freezer.
ALWAYS use FRESH lemon/lime/orange/etc juice. You can squeeze a bunch ahead of time and store it in the fridge (or freeze in an ice cube tray).
Good gins: Miller's is my fave, Aviation, Plymouth are also very good.
Good whisky: We're partial to Woodford.
I know the above recommended liquors tend to be pricey - but these drinks are not for mass drinking quantities, they are more to be enjoyed as a good wine would be... Not for punchbowls at parties. :) We don't imbibe in these all the time, so the every now and then we do, it's worth it to purchase the good stuff. It definitely makes the drinks.

Rosemary Tart
This is a take on a Lemon Drop, but with gin!

2 oz gin
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2-3/4 oz rosemary simple syrup

Rosemary simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine equal parts of sugar and water. Add a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. Strain into a jar and add a couple new fresh rosemary sprigs. Add ~1T vodka (as a preservative). Chill well before using in a drink. Stays in the fridge for a while.
Rim a cocktail glass with fine sugar (or: blend some sugar with some fresh rosemary in a food processor = rosemary sugar, or just keep a jar of sugar with a couple rosemary sprigs in it). I take the open lemon and run it around the rim of the glass then dip in the sugar.
In a shaker with ice, pour the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously and strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with a bit of rosemary.
NOTES: you could also use vodka instead of the gin... Another variation of this drink is to add a couple drops of pine tincture.

The Last Word
I know I posted this already in a previous post, but it's worth repeating! DE-LI-CIOUS.

1 oz gin
1 oz Maraschino liqueur
1 oz green chartreuse
1 oz fresh lime juice

Pour ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No need for any garnish!

Ward 8
I consider this the gateway drink to rye and whiskey drinks. It's very well balanced, so long as you use quality ingredients.

2 oz rye
1 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz grenadine
1 cherry

In a shaker with ice, shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glash, garnishing with the cherry.

Bijou with a Twist
This is actually something we got while at Needle and Thread (the speakeasy in Tavern Law). Very tasty.

1.5 oz gin
1 oz apperol
1 oz Dolan Blanc vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters (Scrappy's)
grapefruit zest

In a large glass with ice, stir the first 4 ingredients. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the zest.

Bijou

The original.

1 oz gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 - 3/4 oz green chartreuse
1 dash orange bitters
cherry or lemon peel garnish

In a large glass with ice, stir the first 4 ingredients. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry or lemon zest.

Clover Club
I wrote about this one earlier, too, but am adding it for completeness sake, and also because it's worth repeating!

1.5 oz gin
3/4 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz grenadine
3/4 oz egg white

Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake like there's no tomorrow. Then shake it some more. Strain into a chilled glass.

Classic Manhattan
No introduction necessary.

2 oz whiskey
1 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 cherry

In a large cocktail glass with ice, add the above (sans cherry). Gently stir 40 times (yes, I said 40). Strain into a chilled martini glass and drop in the cherry.

Vessel 75

A great cocktail that is the signature at Vessel here in Seattle. Created by Jamie Boudreau - he calls it a "twisted version of the sazerac with foam." Don't be scared of foams - they look scary, but are actually quite easy! I pulled this recipe from online where there's an accompanying video.

Maple Foam

4 egg whites
6 oz water
4 oz maple syrup
2 oz lemon juice

Combine these together and pour into an ISI canister. Charge according to directions and store in the fridge.
When ready, stir the following in a mixing glass, and strain into a rocks glass, topping with the maple foam, garnishing with orange zest.

3 oz bourbon
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1 barspoon of simple syrup

This is by no means an exhaustive list of good beverages... A couple great books on hoity cocktails are Dale Degroff's Essential Cocktail book and his Craft of the Cocktail book.

Enjoy your boozin'. :)

Maple Mustard Pork Chops

2011-04-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

It's sweet! It's tangy! It's PERFECT. This makes a great weeknight meal.

4 thin pork chops
1/4 C Dijon mustard

Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt and pepper. Then rub both sides with the Dijon. Heat a large skillet with some oil, and cook the chops until done and browned. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside.

In the skillet with the drippings, whisk in:

1 T Dijon
1 T maple syrup
1 T cider vinegar
2-3 T chicken broth

Bring to a simmer and reduce slightly. Pour over the chops and eat!

This is great with wild rice - cooked to the package instructions.

I also like it with maple glazed carrots:

4 carrots, in large chunks
2 t maple sugar
1 t salt
2 t butter
2 t maple syrup

In a skillet, add the carrots, salt, and maple sugar. Add enough water to cover the carrots by 1/2 - 3/4. Bring to a boil and simmer until the water has evaporated. Add the butter and maple syrup, toss to coat.
NOTE: Instead of using maple sugar, substitute the water with ginger ale. Or use brown sugar.

A nice contrast to all the sweet is simple spinach:

In a skillet, heat some olive oil and some minced or slivered garlic. When fragrant, add a bunch of spinach - for the two of us, I use a full 5 oz package. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until wilted, serve.

All but the spinach makes 4 servings - it's good reheated the next day, too!

Heaven, in the form of PULLED PORK

2011-03-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

That's right - I said pulled pork. Since getting the BGE, we had done brisket, ribs, chicken, just about everything. EXCEPT PULLED PORK. What was wrong with us? I don't really know the answer to that, but we have remedied it insofar as to make some pulled pork over the weekend. I hope this will redeem us somewhat.

To make it real nice, it needs a good 14-18 hour smoke at 225 degrees. Having the BGE with the temperature control thingy makes it so much easier than getting up every few hours to check on it. We put this bad boy on the grill around 11pm Saturday night, and were eating a scrumptious linner at 2pm Sunday afternoon.

Here's the magic:
6-8 lb pork butt (Boston or picnic) - we got a 7 lb bone-in beauty.

In a bowl, mix together 1/3 C Sriracha with 1/4 C yellow mustard. Rub this ALL OVER the pork butt. Massage it in there, into all the nooks and crannies. If you can, do this ~12 hours in advance of the smoke.
NOTE - the sriracha does NOT make it too spicy! It's very very mild and subdued. So don't let a fear of spice keep you from this.

In another bowl, mix together:

1/3 C brown sugar
1 T garlic powder
1 T sea salt
1 T fresh cracked black pepper
1 T cumin
1 T smoked paprika

Rub this all over the pork butt. Let it rest ~1 hour. Rub again with more rub right before going on the smoker.

Meanwhile, get the smoker to 220-225 degrees. Smoke that bad boy for ~14+ hours, or until it reaches 190-200 degrees internally. This seems a bit high, but trust - that's what's needed to break all the fat down and make it moisten the meat just so. We've tried pulling it at 170-180, but it just wasn't as tender.

We got these nifty bear claw thingies to help lift it off the grill as well as shred it.

This is what it looks like when it's ready:

From another angle...

Pure perfection.

Use whatever tools you have to gently lift the butt onto a receptacle - I like to use a large roaster. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes at least.

You see those lovely bits not attached to the pork? That is what was stuck to the grill. And I call it "tasters" so as to quality control the flavor during the torturous 10-15 minute rest. All bits were eaten, and there may or may not have been a small argument between the hubs and me as to who gets to eat the last nom. I won. VICTORY! But I digress.

Then go to town ripping it to shreds. Remove any nasty parts (namely the fat pockets).

Here's the top fat part with the gooey fat removed - mmmm, crunchy fat! But eat it while it's fresh and hot, 'cause otherwise it congeals and isn't really all that palatable anymore.

To make an incredible mustard based BBQ sauce, we follow the instructions in Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ Sauces book for his Carolina Style BBQ sauce (slightly modified):

1/2 C brown sugar
1 T garlic powder
2 t salt
2 t black + white pepper
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t cayenne
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
1/3 C white vinegar
1/3 C apple cider
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C molasses
18 oz yellow mustard

Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth, no need to heat! It's ready to go. (But we warmed it up so it wouldn't cool the pork off to quickly. Totally optional.)

For a good traditional creamy cole slaw:
Shred 1/2 large head of cabbage, 2 carrots, 2-3 green onions.
For the dressing, whisk together:

1/2 C half and half
1/4 C mayo
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 T sriracha (for some zip)
1-2 t salt (to taste)

Pour this over the cabbage, toss, and let rest ~1 hr before serving. It also keeps pretty well in the fridge for a few days.

Make a sandwich with the pork, sauce, and slaw, and may your nights be filled with the most delightful pulled pork dreams......

Baked Chicken Parmesan

2011-03-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Every little bit helps, right? It's still drenched in cheese, but at least it's not fried! :) And thus, considered super healthy. Plus calcium.

Easy Red Sauce

1 can tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced fine
olive oil
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt

In a cold skillet, pour ~1T olive oil and add the garlic. Bring up to heat. Once it starts sizzling and the wondrous aroma of garlic wafts through the air, add the oregano and pepper flakes. Heat through for another 15 seconds or so, then add the tomato sauce and salt. Simmer until slightly reduced.

Chicken prep
This one is a method over a particular recipe. I take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and slice them in half to make them even thinner. Then I pound them out thin. Season with salt and pepper. Coat both sides with flour, dip into an egg/water bath (1 T water per 1 egg, scrambled together), and coat with seasoned breadcrumbs. You can buy pre-made seasoned breadcrumbs, or make your own by adding dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, pepper, and parmesan cheese to breadcrumbs.

Coat a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray, place the chicken in a single layer. Spray the tops with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for about 3-4 minutes per side (these are super thin, so they don't need to cook that long). Remove from oven and place a couple spoons of the red sauce on each chicken pice, then top with shredded mozz and parmesan cheese. Turn broiler on and return the chicken to the oven, and broil a couple minutes until the cheese is bubbly and awesome.

Serve this with simple pasta - toss cooked al-dente pasta in with the remaining red sauce. Also some garlic bread would do nicely (this time we used rosemary garlic bread, toasted, then rubbed with a fresh garlic clove while the bread was still hot and finished with a drizzle of the slightest bit of olive oil).

the All-American Hamburger

2011-03-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

The other day we made the most. amazing. hamburgers. EVAR. I don't even know how it happened. It's not a hoity-toity fancy burger - we just wanted the plain, good old fashioned burger. And these were incredible - medium rare, juicy, with a tender bun and all the right fixins... I had dreams about it, I'm not going to lie. They were very good dreams in which I awoke in a puddle of drool. Don't hate. I know you're jealous.

However, in my zeal to hurry up and eat, I forgot to take a picture. But there was 1 patty left over (out of 1 lb ground beef, I made 3 patties - yes, I usually go for the 1/2 lb, but I'm trying to eat somewhat better lately). The leftover was also very tasty, and it was split between two people! I made up for the somewhat less meat by adding lots of cheese and bacon. This leftover burger was served with a salad with a warm bacon vinaigrette.

The how-tos:

Burger Goodness
I took 1 lb lean (7% fat) ground beef, added a scant amount of salt (~1/2 t) and pepper, very gently mixed it, and divided it into 3 patties. Then I sprinkled salt all over the outside. Grill on high heat 2-3 min per side for medium rare (since it's so lean, it's best to cook on the med-rare side to keep it moist). Remove from heat and top with cheese. Tent with foil and let rest ~5min.
Toast a bun - we used fresh Orowheat potato buns, and toasted them lightly on the grill.
Smear both sides with mayo (or any flavor aioli you like), mustard, ketchup... I layer shredded lettuce (iceberg is best for burgers), pickles, and onions on the bottom half, place the burger patty on top of that, then top with sliced tomatoes, bacon, and the top bun.

With the leftovers (I also had some leftover bacon), I crumbled the patty (cheeseless) in a pan and heated through with the bacon. I toasted the bun and layered it as before, but just using 1/2 the crumbled patty (the other 1/2 went to the husband's lunch), topping with cheese and bacon, and then eating. Still terrific the next day.

For the salad, here's how I prepared the warm bacon dressing:
I saved the pan with the bacon grease from the day before. Heated this back up. When hot, add a good amount of Dijon mustard and whisk in. Add in some vinegar (I used a combo of red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar) to loosen. No oil is needed, as the bacon grease takes care of that! And then just pour this over lettuce, toss and serve immediately. It's really vinegary this way - if you don't like it too strong on vinegar, you can dilute it with olive or canola oil, or even a dash or two of water or stock of some nature. I like it feisty, so yay to lots of vinegar!

Ever since having this the other day, I'm still craving it. Mmm! Totally satisfied my all-American burger craving.

Pizza: A Magical Round-ish Food

2011-03-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Came out even better than last time!! YOU MUST TRY IT.

A few more mouth-watering pictures:

The toppings we used this time:

fresh garlic
Mama's Lil Peppers
Aged dry Italian salami (par cooked in the microwave for 45s - 1min in layers between paper towels to soak up extra fat and make sure it can get crispy when on the Egg for only 3.5 min)
fresh basil

Czech Creamy Pork Goulash

2011-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

Goulash is a staple of my childhood. In Czech, it's actually spelled gulas (with some accents and check marks, but I don't know how to make those in this, so this is close enough).

It was snowing here in Seattle the other day. BRRRR!!! I wanted comfort food in its greatest hour. That means creamy meat and potatoes or something, amiright? I didn't have potatoes, but this meal goes awesome with potatoes. Even better with potato dumplings or regular dumplings or specle/spaetzle... But we settled with rice, which was still mighty good. Even egg noodles would work.

So the pork gulas is usually made with sour cream and sauerkraut. Mark's not much of a fan of the kraut (gasp! He can't be Polish!), so I left that out. But please - if you like it - add it in! It's a flavor sensation.

3 lbs pork (whatever you have; shoulder is great because of the long cook it gets all tender, but the store was out so I just used a big pork loin, and that was still flavorful and tender)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 head garlic, minced (yes, head, not clove. It's a lot, but it cooks for like ever and it mellows. Trust.)
2 T ketchup (yeah, I know. But it's the secret ingredient!)
3 T sweet Hungarian paprika
1 T marjoram
1 t oregano
1 t caraway seeds
5 allspice berries
2 bay leaves
good amount of salt
pepper
1 bottle good Czech beer (a pilsner- Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar, etc.)
water

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the onion in some oil until it's golden and turning brown at the edges. Add the pork, toss to coat with the onion and oil. Add the garlic through pepper (the salt is to taste - so start with a little and add more as you taste while it cooks). Stir to coat the pork in all this yumness and to slightly toast the spices. Add the beer. Add a bit of water (if necessary) to go ~1" over the meat. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Let the liquid evaporate then add more water. This helps intensify the flavor. You'll likely do this a couple times through the cooking process. You want to cook it a total of ~1.5 hours.

Make a slurry of flour and water - add it, a little at a time, to the gulas until the desired thickness is achieved. You want it to be hearty, but not so you can stand a spoon in it. Cook it another 10 minutes to make sure the raw flour taste is gone. Once it's done, you could serve it just like this - that's the base gulas (usually done with beef). Stir in an 8oz container of sour cream. Optionally, stir in about 1/2 jar of drained sauerkraut. Heat through and serve over your favorite carb. Oh - but first, remove the bay leaves and the allspice berries. Those are not so tasty when bitten into.

Another deviation of this is chicken paprikas - sub chicken parts for the pork, and don't add the sauerkraut.

If you have it, thinly sliced onion/shallot and bell pepper (although I prefer the Hungarian wax pepper or something similar, it's not always easily found, so a red bell subs just fine) added to the top give it a nice fresh bite.

Mmm... good Czech comfort food is the BEST!

Teriyaki Chicken

2011-02-24T10:58:00.000-08:00

After the spring rolls, there were some leftover shredded vegetables. Why not use them in another meal? I still felt Asian-y, so I went with teriyaki chicken, stir-fried veggies, and brown rice. Quick and easy. (Or, you could use the leftover veggies in the Korean Hawaiian tacos from an earlier post.)

For the teriyaki sauce, you could buy pre-made, but I just make my own, and store it in a glass jar in the fridge to use whenever I want teriyaki.

Teriyaki Sauce

1.5 C shoyu or soy sauce
1/2 C water
1/2 C pineapple juice
3/4 C sugar
1 T garlic, grated or finely minced
2 T ginger, grated or finely minced

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened (15+ minutes). Remove from heat and store.

For the chicken, I took some boneless, skinless chicken thighs and marinated them for a couple hours in a zippie with some teriyaki sauce. To cook, either sautee in a skillet, basting with additional teriyaki sauce at the end, or grill them (the yummier choice, me thinks), basting also at the end with more sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Stir Fried Vegetables
In a large skillet or wok, heat some oil (peanut oil, canola, whatever). Add the (leftover) thinly sliced carrot and cook ~1 min. Add 1 clove finely minced garlic and 1 t finely minced or grated ginger. Heat through until fragrant (~30 sec). Add the shredded cabbage (however much you want). After about another minute, add 1-2 T soy sauce and some sriracha sauce. Toss to coat. Add in the green onion and cilantro leftovers to heat through, and remove from heat.

I just cook some brown rice in my rice cooker, and it's done!

Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

2011-02-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

I love me some spring/summer rolls. They're not as heavy as those fried eggrolls, are still filling, and full of tasty veggies.

We recently spent a week on Kauai, and basically spent our days swimming, reading, and laying in our cabana on the beach. It was heavenly. For lunch, the Dock had these summer rolls with a peanut dipping sauce. Two of these rolls made a filling meal, and we didn't feel so bad eating them, knowing dinner would be an all out gorge fest of food and booze.

So, after having them for lunch every day, we got used to having them readily available. Back home, we don't have someone coming to our cabana (we don't actually have a cabana here) and bringing us various things we request (talk about harsh slap of reality). I decided to try my hand at making my own! They actually aren't as scary and difficult as I had originally thought. And they're so versatile, you can add any veggie/meat combo you have on hand.

Here's how I did it:

spring roll wrappers
red leaf lettuce, ribs removed and torn into pieces
thin rice noodles, soaked in hot/warm water for ~15 min, rinsed and drained
thinly shredded cabbage (red, white, napa, savoy, or a combo)
thinly sliced carrot
thinly sliced cucumber
thinly sliced red bell pepper
thinly sliced jalapenos (optional)
thinly sliced green onion or chives
chopped peanuts (optional)
thinly sliced meat (teriyaki chicken, pork, beef, tofu)
cilantro

Have all of the above ready and accessible so you can make the rolls quickly. Place a large, clean dishtowel in your work area. This is where you will assemble the rolls.

In a shallow dish (I used a large pie plate), pour some hot water. Add one of the spring roll wrappers, and move it around and soak for about 20-30 seconds until it's pliable. Remove it carefully and lay on the towel to remove some of the excess water. Turn it over and make sure it's laying flat.

Place a couple lettuce pieces in the center of the wrapper. Add some rice noodles, and layer the rest of the ingredients on top (in any order). Make sure not to over stuff, but don't understuff, either!

Fold the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling, then fold in the 2 sides, and roll up. This is where you might pull to hard and cut a tear in the wrapper, so go slowly and gently. I only ripped 1! :) Next time I'll do better. It also depends on the quality of the wrapper - not all are made equally, so you might have to try it with a few different brands if you keep having trouble.

Serve these with some Nuoc Cham (fish sauce based dipping sauce) or some Nuoc Leo (peanut sauce). I'm still trying various recipes for the sauce to find one that I love, but here's a pretty decent one:

In a small saucepan, heat some peanut oil. Add some crushed garlic (2-3 cloves), 1 t tomato paste, 1-2 t Sriracha sauce (depending how hot you like it), a pinch of sugar, 2 T peanut butter, 2 T hoisin sauce, and 1/4 C chicken broth. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from heat and serve. You can change up the quantities to match your tastes, and add more chicken broth if you want it a bit looser consistency.

Roasted Salmon with Grapefruit sauce

2011-02-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

Even though I don't eat seafood (GASP!! I know I just lost any iota of credibility I have, but at least I own up to it, and I'm really trying to like it), I want the hubs to participate in the health benefits and diversity offered up by those things that live in water.

This time, instead of doing cedar-plank grilled salmon, I decided to try out a recipe I found in Ellie Kreiger's cookbook. For myself, I did roasted chicken breast with lemon dill sauce. Both were served with whole wheat couscous and fresh greenbeans with cream cheese.

Salmon with Grapefruit (slightly modified from the book, since I made enough for just 1 person)

1 piece salmon (5-8 oz or so, depending on how hungry you are)
1 small ruby red grapefruit
1 small shallot, minced
1 t honey
1 t fresh grated ginger
1/8 t cayenne
1 t fresh lemon juice
3-4 fresh basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (thin slices)
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Rub both sides of the salmon with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven about 18 min until it's done.

Peel the grapefruit and cut the segments out of ~1/3 of it. Squeeze the rest into juice. In a saucepan, heat about a teaspoon of olive oil and sautee the shallots. Add the cayenne, ginger, and honey and cook until fragrant (~30s - 1min). Add the grapefruit juice and simmer on med-low heat until reduced by half-ish (~10 min). Add the lemon juice, basil, and a dash of salt to taste.

Place the salmon on a plate, pour over the sauce, and garnish with the grapefruit segments.

Chicken with Lemon Dill Sauce
This is more a free-form method than a recipe... So I'm not going to put exact amounts.
I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, though this would be tasty with any cut of chicken. First, put the pieces in a bowl or zippie or something. Add a bunch of lemon juice, some olive oil, a lot of crushed garlic, and a healthy amount of chopped fresh dill. Also some salt & pepper. Let it mingle for 15-30 minutes. Possibly also add the lemon zest.
Heat some oil in a skillet and cook the chicken. When about 1/2 way done, add all the marinade (yes, I know it's raw chicken marinade, but it will cook!). Let it all simmer together until the chicken is done.
Now you have awesome chicken and a nice tart lemon jus to serve with it! Goes great with rice, couscous, noodles, pretty much anything.

Creamy Green Beans
This came about because some people here aren't fans of vegetables... So to make green beans at least a bit more palatable, I came up with this.

1/2 lb fresh green beans, ends trimmed
2 t olive oil
1 T cream cheese
1 T slivered or chopped almonds (optional)
salt, pepper to taste

Steam the green beans, or boil/drain/cool. This step isn't necessary, but it does yield a slighty better textured green bean than just straight sauteeing them in a pan. This time, I didn't want to deal with the extra dishes to pre-cook the beans...
In a pan, heat the oil. Add the green beans and cover with a lid. Let it cook for a few minutes (3-5) until the beans are tender and have a bit of a sear going on. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cream cheese. The heat will help it melt and stir to distribute it all over all the green beans. Add the almonds if you so wish. Serve it up! Super easy side dish that everyone has to like.

For the grain, I just made plain whole wheat couscous, cooked to the package directions.

Next time - I think I'm going to make the salmon with a lemon-dill sauce - as Mark prefers lemon to grapefruit.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

2011-02-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

More soup! It is cold outside. And sometimes, there's nothing better than some soup. This one here is similar to the one at La Madeleine's. Goes great with some crusty bread and a salad!

For the soup:

2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 T sugar
2+ t salt
1 t pepper
20 fresh basil leaves (plus or minus)
5 T butter
3/4-1 C heavy cream

In a large pot, add the crushed tomatoes and the whole tomatoes (with all the juice that comes with them in the can). Add the sugar, salt & pepper. Bring this to a boil then reduce to a simmer for ~15 minutes. Tear in all the basil leaves and stir. Remove from heat. Either puree in a food processor or blender in batches, or use one of those nifty hand/stick blender things to puree the soup smooth.

Add the butter and cream and stir until melted & combined.

Serve hot with some fresh crusty bread. Garnish with more fresh basil, if you so desire.

Tiramisu++

2011-01-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

I love tiramisu! The creamy silkiness... The melting in the mouth... Glar glar glar... It's a winner, all around.

But surprisingly, I've never ever tried making it myself. Crazy, I know, right?! Well, that was remedied! We had a couple friends over for pizza and I was like, what the heck! They can be my guinea pigs for tiramisu experimentation. Thankfully, it all turned out a-ok!

btw - The "++" means chocolate.

8oz tub of marscapone, room temperature/softened
1 C heavy whipping cream
1/3 C sugar

Whip the heavy cream and 1/3 C sugar to soft peaks. Whip the marscapone until it's smooth. Fold that into the whipped cream (if you don't whip the marscapone first, then there might be mini chunks of it throughout, but that's not really bad, it's just not smoothly pretty). Set this aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together:

1/4 C heavy whipping cream
1/2 C semisweet chocolate

Set aside, but keep warm.

In a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, but don't let the water touch the bowl), whisk together:

6 egg yolks
1/2 C sugar
3/8 C sweet marsala
pinch of salt

Whisk this continuously until it thickens, about 10 minutes. This is basically a zabaglione, and removes the risk of raw eggs in the dish. Fold in the melted chocolate. Cool this mixture completely.
When this is completely cool, fold the chocolate zabaglione into the marscapone/cream mixture.

In a shallow pan/dish/pie plate, combine 1.5 C warm coffee (I used some french press coffee; espresso is also ok, but might be a touch bitter) with 1 t vanilla and 1/4 C of sugar. Optional: 1 T rum or Kahlua. You'll need about 24 ladyfingers (1 pkg, roughly) - the crispy Italian cookies. Quickly dip a cookie in the coffee mixture (I use Ina Garten's method with the shallow dish - one side dipped, quickly turn over on the other side, remove) - and I mean quickly - like 1-2 seconds per side max (you don't want these to fall apart, just to moisten with the coffee flavor) - and then place in an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.

Once one layer of cookies is down, smooth on 1/2 of the marscapone mixture. Add another layer of dipped cookies. End with the last half of the marscapone. Sprinkle some (dutch process) cocoa powder over the whole thing. I think fresh raspberries are AMAZING with this and absolutely necessary. Some dark chocolate shavings on top of that, and then a sprinkle of powdered sugar for the pretty contrast. Cover with plastic wrap and let set in the fridge for at least 6 hours. You will not be disappointed - this is just what you need. Trust.

Grilled Chicken with Avocado Salsa

2011-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

A quick and tasty meal that you don't have to feel too guilty about: grilled chicken! This time, I topped it with a simple warm avocado salsa type thing.

For the chicken, I used a boneless breast of chicken with the wing attached (something called an airline whatsit?). But you can use whatever you like. I season it simply with salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder (or Adobo seasoning). If it's not pouring outside, grill it! Otherwise, you can sautee it in a smidge of olive or canola oil.

For the salsa:

1/2 onion, chopped chunky
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 -1 avocado, cubed
1 jalapeno, minced
1-2 T cilantro, roughly chopped
1 t each of: cumin, chili powder
juice of 1 lime
salt, pepper to taste

Heat a small pan with some oil. Add the onion & jalapeno, sprinkle with s/p, and cook until golden (~5 min). Add the garlic and spices, ~30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, ~2 min. Add the avocado, warm through (~1 min). Add cilantro, finish with salt, pepper to taste, and the lime juice. Serve atop the grilled chicken.

A Baby Shower Spread!

2011-01-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Ahh, babies....

My sister is expecting any day now! Last month, I flew down to Dallas to throw her a baby shower. My mom and I catered it. It turned out pretty good, and not just the food! Mom and I love cooking - she's the one from whom I learned most everything I know. She had me helping her cook while I was still in diapers (or something like that). She taught me how not to take it all so seriously - improvise, experiment. So when I go home to visit, Mom and spend much of that time cooking. And this time, it was an intense couple days of prep!

There were about 25+ people coming to the party, and all with various dietary likes and dislikes. So we had to come up with a well-rounded menu. And it couldn't all be *that* unhealthy, since, well, it was a bunch of women. And you know how we can be...

We made:

Crudites with bought hummus dip
Cucumber/dill tea sandwiches
Sausage/cheddar pastry rollups
Fancy Czech potato salad open-faced sandwiches (chlebicky)
Other fancy Czech open-faced sandwiches (paprika cream cheese, garlic cream cheese)
Mini vegetarian taco bites
Shrimp with cocktail sauce
Fresh fruit salad with vanilla sour cream sauce
This tasty Czech cream cheese between layers of sweet dough thing from my grandmother
Uber Fancy desserts that a family friend made (who is like a fancy dessert maker) - a fruit/creme/cake thing and a chocolate cake thing in individual servings
Mimosas
Sparkling raspberry lemonade

With all those things - there was hardly anything left! So I'd call it a success. :) 2 of my sister's other friends helped with all the other stuff - decor & decorating, party games, etc., and all-in-all it went well! I think my niece got a good amount of stuff to help welcome her into this world. I'm so excited to be an aunt!

Apple Cinnamon (bran) Muffins

2011-01-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

With the new year brings the desire to eat right and all that. Something I've been making for a while are these apple cinnamon bran muffins. Bran is good for you (at least better than a coffee cake or doughnut or something)! High in fiber! But many times can taste pretty awful. However, I took a basic bran recipe from King Arthur flour and made a couple additions & changes, and these emerged!

For a bran muffin, these are pretty tasty. And the batter can stay in the fridge up to a week, so you don't have to make them all at once. I make 6 at a time, enough for 3 days of breakfasts (for the two of us).

1/2 C boiling water
1/2 C bran cereal (Kellogg's All Bran is good)
1/3 C canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 C AP flour + 3/4 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 C sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1.5 t cinnamon
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and grated on the large grate of a box grater (with juices)
1 C buttermilk
1/4 C light brown sugar
an additional 1.5 C bran cereal

Pour the water over the 1/2 C bran cereal in a 2C measuring cup. When mostly cool, add in the oil and the egg, mixing into a brown mush. (yum!)
In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the grated apple.
In another measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and brown sugar. Stir this into the dry ingredients.
Add the 1.5 C dry bran cereal and stir to coat.
Add the softened cereal/egg/oil mixture and stir.
Cover and refrigerate overnight, and up to one week.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Scoop the batter into the papers. Bake 20-25 minutes until done. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

The original recipe has 230 calories each, 8 g fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 370 mg sodium, and 7 g of fiber.

The Christmas Foodgasmic Overeating Gorge-a-Thon

2011-01-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is the time of year when all diets and common sense (food-wise) go out the window. I look forward to this each and every year... This time around, the in-laws came for a nice visit! So I got to get out the big tree, and go almost all-out with all the eats.

I made the traditional Czech Christmas cookies (like a German linzer cookie), which uses egg yolks
With the leftover egg whites, I made these killer chocolate/walnut meringues (courtesy Emeril).
Assorted nuts in the shell
Savory cheddar-pecan cookies (courtesy a friend of my mom's)
Czech potato salad open-faced sandwiches (chlebicky)

For the main event - wait for it -
SMOKED PRIME RIB. Awh yeah. It was delish! However, I forgot to take any before or after pictures, just the remnants from when we finished eating everything and there was 1 small piece left... That was served with green beans and bacon, steamed snap peas, my version of warm German potato salad, fresh horseradish cream sauce, and a nice bottle of wine.

A few recipes from the above:

Cheddar Pecan Butter Cookies

1 C (8 oz) softened butter
1 C (4 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 C (250g) flour
1 T salt
1/4-1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 C pecans, chopped finely

Cream the butter, cheese, salt and cayenne. Add the flour and pecans slowly until combined. Roll into a log in some parchment and chill in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Slice into 1/4" slices and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Chocolate Walnut Meringue Cookies
I usually double this recipe from Emeril. Is a great use of leftover egg whites (also see the drink recipe for a Clover Club below). It's SO EASY. Usually meringue stuff is scary, but this really can't be messed up. You just spoon the cookies on the sheet, put them in a hot oven, turn it off, and just leave it there overnight.

Warm Potato Salad

potatoes
bacon
Dijon mustard
whole grain mustard
apple cider vinegar
sugar

I didn't put measurements because it depends on how many (and what kind) of potatoes you use. Any kind work - I've used many different kinds. Let's start with a pound or so of potatoes... Boil the potatoes (always start them in cold water) until fork tender, drain. In a small bowl, combine 1 T Dijon + 1 T grain mustard with ~2-3 T vinegar and a pinch of sugar.
In a large skillet, brown the bacon. Add the drained, cooked potatoes and toss in the bacon and bacon grease and let it cook a bit. If you like crispy potatoes, let it cook in the grease a bit longer. Depending on the lean-ness of the bacon, you might need to add some extra oil/butter. Then pour over the mustard/vinegar mixture and toss to coat. If you have some green onions or chives laying around, chop and sprinkle those in, too. Or some parsley. Whatever. Serve it warm! Mark LOVES this potato salad, and it couldn't be easier!

Horseradish Cream Sauce

2 T fresh grated horseradish
1 T prepared horseradish (depending on how hot the fresh is, you might not need this. But when I got the fresh root, it wasn't too potent, so I decided to supplement it with the Beaver brand stuff)
1 C sour cream
1/4 C mayonnaise
2-3 t cider vinegar
1 T chopped chives
salt, pepper to taste

Combine everything and let rest a couple hours for the flavors to meld.
Leftovers of this go great in mashed potatoes!

THE BOOZE

For the tasty beverages, a couple of our go-to faves are a Clover Club and a Last Word. A red (well, pink) and green drink - very festive!

Clover Club

1.5 oz gin (a GOOD gin)
3/4 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 t grenadine (I make my own, makes a big difference, see note below)
3/4 oz egg white (or 1/2 the white of a small egg)

Shake all ingredients VIGOROUSLY - twice as hard and twice as long as usual... Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Don't freak out about the egg white - I was hesitant, but it's awesome! The egg white adds that fun foam at the top, but also helps the rest of the ingredients mesh together in a way that makes it extra tasty.
Some notes: good gins: Plymouth, Aviation, Miller's...
To make simple syrup, bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil, remove from heat right away and cool.
The grenadine - there are 2 ways to make it - a hot method and a cold method. They both work really well in this (and other) recipe, so it's more a personal taste thing.

The Last Word

1 oz gin
1 oz green chartreuse
1 oz maraschino liqueur
1 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. This is a delicious, herby-sweet concoction. It's hard to describe - it's just really unique and unexpected - but in a good way!

Sausage Tomato Soup

2011-01-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Soup comes out in full force once the mercury falls below 60 degrees... And this is another one that I make regularly. We wanted a tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich, but also something heartier. Sausage was the obvious choice. :)

Here you have it: Italian Sausage & Tomato Soup

3 slices bacon, diced
2 links Italian sausage (no casings) - I use this good chicken sausage from PCC
1/2 medium to large onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping T flour
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 large can (28-oz) crushed tomatoes
1 qt chicken broth
1 t each of: oregano, marjoram, paprika, thyme
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper to taste
1/3 - 1/2 C chopped parsley+cilantro

In a large stockpot, crisp up the bacon. Set it aside. Cook the sausage, set it aside with the bacon. Add more oil (if necessary). Add the onions and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook to soften, about 3-5 min. Add the garlic and the spices, cook ~30 seconds until fragrant. Deglaze with the vinegar. When all the vinegar has evaporated, sprinkle on the flour and cook about 2 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste, but make sure to stir continuously as you don't want it to burn. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, broth, reserved meat. Simmer ~15-20 minutes. Add salt, pepper to taste. Add the cilantro/parsley mixture. Serve, topped with a sprinkling of parmesan.

For the grilled cheese, I like using fresh artisan bread - usually a sourdough. There's also this awesomely good rosemary bread from a local bakery that works... Slap some cheese (grated melts better) - like cheddar, fontina, gruyere, havarti, pretty much anything or a combo of your faves - in between, and grill in some butter until toasty and hot. Sometimes a slice of tomato lightens it up a bit if you use a lot of cheese... Or some avocado... Or bacon... Or all of the above... :)

!!! PIZZA !!!

2010-11-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

The quest to make a killer pizza is a quest many of us embark upon, yet few conquer.

Yet with the aid of my father-in-law, Joe-Dad, here we are. He spent months - and I mean MONTHS - testing out numerous different dough recipes, making almost good crusts to downright horrible crusts. Trial and error continued, and then he finally hit gold. And he graciously allowed me to share his secret with you.

The hubs recently went on a trip to PA, where he tried this magical pizza at the parental unit's house. He kept talking about it and talking about it... And we finally made it last night. It was AMAZING. The dough was just the right level of flavor and chewiness with a crisp crust, providing the perfect vessel on which to deliver cheese and other goodies. But mind you - this is not just a cheese vessel. It can stand on its own!

This is a cold fermenting dough, meaning that it will take a few days in the fridge to get to the proper rise. So plan ahead! It's a fairly simple dough, but needs to rise in the fridge for 4-7 days.

DOUGH
- Makes 1 ~14" pizza skin

265 g high-gluten flour (I get mine from King Arthur flour)
170 g room-temperature water (or slightly warmer - but keep it below 100 degrees)
1/4 t instant dry yeast
1 1/8 t kosher salt

In a large stand mixer, combine all ingredients and mix with the dough hook until a dough ball forms. Reduce speed on mixer to 2-3 (on a KitchenAid mixer) and continue mixing/kneading for a full 12 minutes.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, form it into a smooth ball, and place in a well-oiled large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator 4-7 days. You'll see it slowly rise as the days go by.

Roughly 2 hours before you want to make the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and let rest at room temperature. You'll see this start to rise again a lot quicker than when in the fridge. I actually got a big bubble that formed. Fun times with dough!

You want to bake this super hot. As I've mentioned, we love our Big Green Egg. It can get HOT. So we will be grill-baking the pizza! It takes a little bit of time, but get this up to about 600-650 degrees. If working in the oven, place the pizza stone in the oven and preheat it as hot as it can get (most can do 500-550 deg).

Lightly flour your work surface and turn out the dough. No need to knead again, just start forming into the pizza round. Transfer to a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or with a round of parchment (cut the parchment to the size of the dough - otherwise it might catch fire and burn).

Top with a light spread of sauce (recipe below), and then toppings of your choice.

The toppings we chose this time:

spicy Italian chicken sausage (out of the casings - crumbled and cooked)
fresh chopped garlic
Mama's Lil' Peppers
CHEESE and lots of it. Per the in-laws' rec, we used a 2:1 ratio of mozzarella and fontina

SAUCE
Make just enough for 1 pizza...

In a small pan, I added some olive oil and browned up the chicken sausage. I removed the sausage. In the pan, with the drippings and browned meat bits, I added a touch more olive oil and some fresh finely minced or grated garlic (about 1 clove) and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Once fragrant, add about 1/4 C of tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes or strained tomatoes) and a pinch of salt and pepper, perhaps a dash of oregano. Let this bubble until it's thick - a lot of the moisture evaporated. Remove from heat and add another 1/4 C of the tomato sauce and stir in. Adjust taste with salt/pepper.

Now that the pizza is topped, and the Egg is at a screaming 650 degrees - carefully slide the pie onto the pizza stone and bake for 3 (THREE) minutes only.

Remove the pizza.

Top with fresh torn basil, a sprinkling of fresh grated parm, and let rest a couple minutes before slicing into it.

I utilize 2 large pizza peels - it makes things a bit easier. I have a clunky wooden one that I prep the pie on and cut/serve it on, but have a thin large metal one for getting it off the stone. The thinness and lightweightedness of the metal peel is definitely helpful. If you're looking for one, King Arthur has a good, large metal one.

We just ate this with a nice red wine and a salad with balsamic dressing, and it was amazing!

mmmmm... Soup.

2010-11-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

The cold weather is descending upon us. So out come the sweaters and reindeer pants, along with the warm, comfort food recipes!

Mark was out of town for a while , and it was cold and rainy here almost the entire time. So I thought, why not make a big pot of soup to tide me over the next few days? And I then proceeded to make some tasty lentil soup. Most families have their own versions, I took the one I was used to growing up and just modified it a touch, since I didn't have everything that version called for.

not pictured: garlic

You will need the following (and amounts are variable depending on what you have and/or like):

1-1.5 C lentils, soaking for about 1-2 hours, then drained and rinsed
2-3 slices bacon, diced
2 carrots, diced
couple stalks of celery with leaves, diced
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 jalapeno, seeds/ribs removed, and diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 t marjoram
salt, pepper to taste (~2t each)
1 T tomato paste
8 oz can tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
2 qt chicken broth (growing up, we used pork stock from cooking a pork roast in the pressure cooker, but I didn't have that handy)
grated Parmesan for serving

Start by sauteing the bacon in a large soup pot. If the bacon's very lean, you may need to supplement with some olive oil. When they're starting to brown, add the vegetables and cook about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, marjoram and tomato paste for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add the drained lentils, tomato sauce and chicken broth, and season with a bit of the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 45 min to 1 hour until the lentils are tender. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

With a stick blender or a regular blender, puree about 1-2 C of the soup to thicken it.

Serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan and some garlic bread on the side.

Chicken teriyaki burgers

2010-11-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

Craving a burger? Don't want all the beef? But still want flavor? I present to you the chicken teriyaki burger!

Pretty easy to make, juicy and full of flavor.

Here's the rundown:

In a large mixing bowl, add your ground chicken. I used about 1 lb. To this, add:

1-2 t salt, 1-2 t pepper
1 T finely chopped green onion
1 T finely chopped cilantro
1 T teriyaki sauce (see our homemade recipe below)
2 T breadcrumbs (to pull it together)

Mix gently to combine, and form patties. Depending on how huge you want your burgers, a pound will get you 1-4 patties.

Grill over medium heat about 3-4 minutes per side - until completely cooked through - to a temperature of about 170 degrees. If you use ground chicken breast, which doesn't have that much fat content, it will be healthier, but possibly dryer and a bit blander. Using whole ground chicken (both dark and light meat) will yield a juicier, more flavorful burger. But I've used both, and this still turns out tasty regardless.

I like to serve it on a toasted Hawaiian sweet roll with a garlic-lime aioli (recipe below), some monterey jack cheese, fresh lettuce, and some caramelized onions. Or any other toppings you prefer.

Teriyaki Sauce

1.5 C soy sauce
1/2 C water
1/2 C pineapple juice
1 C sugar
1 T grated fresh garlic
2 T grated fresh ginger

Simmer until slightly thickened (~30 minutes). Store in the fridge, it'll last a while.

Garlic Lime Aioli

2 egg yolks
1 T minced garlic
1/2 T Dijon mustard
1 C oil (I use canola)
zest and juice of 1 lime
salt, pepper to taste

In a food processor or blender, puree the egg yolks, garlic, and dijon. SLOWLY drizzle in the oil while the motor is running. When combined, add the rest of the ingredients and give a final whir. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Holy Smoked Meatloaf, Batman!

2010-10-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was world where I didn't have smoked meatloaf. I didn't know that the world was lacking anything. But then a magical day happened upon me - Mark asked, why not bake the meatloaf on the Egg with some wood chunks? Okay! Let's try it. And then the skies parted and there was sun and angels singing. Ok, actually, this was done in the evening, so the sun had already set, but you get my drift. It turned out pretty awesome. It made a killer meatloaf recipe even better. So here, today, I share with you the secret of not only the family meatloaf, but also the new method of smoke-roasting it.

This meatloaf recipe is different from the traditional recipe. This is more Czech - it's what I grew up having and knowing as meatloaf. People who haven't had this and say they don't like meatloaf end up LOVING this stuff. So props go out to my mom, who taught me basically everything in the kitchen.

In a bowl, mix together (and I'm guesstimating the amounts, since I just dump stuff in a bowl until it looks right... Next time I'll actually measure and correct this if needed, but this seems like it's right):

1 large egg
1/2-3/4 C breadcrumbs
3 T grated parmesan cheese
1/2 onion, grated, with juices
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1 T marjoram
2 t salt, 1 t pepper
2-4 T water to get it to the right consistency (you want it thick and spoonable, not too dry, but not too runny, does that make any sense? If not, well, it's hard to mess this up, so just use your judgement)

Once that's incorporated (you want to do the majority of the mixin' without the meat - working the meat too much can make it tough), add the meat and combine with your hands until it's all evenly distributed:

1 lb lean ground beef (I use the 93% lean stuff)
1 lb lean ground pork

Or 2 lbs of meatloaf mix, or just beef... Whatever your preference is. But you want about 1.75-2 lbs of meat.

Divide the meat mixture into 3. Form 3 logs and put in a 13x9 baking dish. Add about an inch of water. To add extra flavor to the broth that will be made, add 1 onion in chunks and 2 carrots in chunks (about 2" chunks) around the meat loaves and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

Bake (or grill with wood chunks) at 375F for about 45min to an hour, or until the meat reaches 160F.

On the side, since we had the grill going, I decided to grill up some yams (or you can use sweet potatoes, whichever look good at the store). I cut them in large pieces (about 1.5" discs), brushed with oil and sprinkled with s&p and grilled them alongside the meatloaf. However, these only took about 25-30 minutes, so they don't need to go on at the same time. You could also just roast them in the oven.

When the meatloaf is done, let it rest about 5-10 minutes, then slice into pieces, serve with the carrots, onions, and grilled potatoes, drizzle with the meatloaf jus, and enjoy! Btw - notice the beautiful smoke rings on this meat. NOTICE IT! It tasted just fantastic. A hint of smokiness, and the tender meatloaf... I'm salivating right now just thinking about it. I will make this again really soon.

Leftovers of this make AMAZING sandwiches. We have a special "sauce" to put on the sammies...

3-4 T ketchup
1 t brown sugar
1 T chili sauce
1 t balsamic vinegar
1 t Worcestershire sauce

Whisk together until smooth.

Toast up some nutty whole grain bread, smear with a bit of mayonnaise, add some fresh lettuce leaves, a couple slices of meatloaf, and spoon on some of the sauce. We look forward to this as much as we do the fresh from the oven meatloaf!

Chocolate syrup, revisited

2010-10-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

I had to do up another batch of chocolate syrup the other day (we've totally stopped buying the Hershey's stuff, or any other brand). I've tinkered with the recipe a bit, and I think it is now just right! The earlier version I posted still got too thick after time in the fridge- and you need it to be a little runny so it'll actually come out of the squeeze bottle, right? So I upped the water amount. I also added some espresso powder, and it made it more chocolate-y.

1 2/3 C water
1.5 C sugar
2 T corn syrup
1/4 t salt

Bring the above items to a boil, and immediately remove from the heat. Whisk in:

1.5 C Dutch process cocoa (King Arthur's is really good)
1 T vanilla (I used Mexican vanilla this time)
1 T espresso powder

Whisk until smooth. Cool, pour (or strain) into a container, and refrigerate.

It goes great in espresso drinks - as seen here, in a homemade chocolate macchiato.

Or topping fresh bananas for breakfast, like I ate this morning.

Or just from a spoon.

Chiles Rellenos, my version

2010-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Wow. Again, I've been slacking. My apologies. Things get busy... Pictures forget to be taken... Blog posts forget to be written... But, surprisingly, I actually had my 2 blog readers yell at me for not posting in a while (thanks Dad-C and Rebecca!), so I'm back on the ball. I have a few meals lined up that I just need to put down on virtual paper, so that'll fill up the next few days. Yay food!

We had some leftover fajita meat. What to do, what to do?? Chiles rellenos came to mind, and so I decided to make those. Baked, not fried. And baked on the Egg, no less. It adds another layer of smokey goodness. I served it with some rice and some charro beans, and a pretty darn good meal was had, I gotta say.

So here goes:

For the chiles, I used a few poblano peppers. If you can't find those, you can try the awesome Hatch green chiles, Anaheims or pasilla pepers.

Blacken them - either under the broiler, on you gas stovetop, or on the grill - turning frequently until the skin is all toasty. Put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for a few minutes (I usually wait until they're a bit cooler, so maybe 15-20 min). Remove the blackened skin, cut a slit lengthwise down the pepper and remove the seeds and ribs. Try not to rinse under water - that'll take away too much of the yummy flavor. Some of the charred skin remaining is fine!

STUFFING: I combined the diced leftover fajita meat (beef, chicken, shrimp, whatever, or even leave the meat out and use just cheese) with a blend of shredded cheeses: cheddar, monterrey jack and some queso asadero. Any combo of these cheeses is fine! This is a very flexible recipe. You can have it heavier on the cheese, or heavier on the meat. I like lots of cheese.

Stuff each of the chiles with the mixture and set aside.

SAUCE: I used a tomatoey cream sauce to go with these.

1 T achiote oil (recipe follows)
1/2-3/4 C sofrito (recipe follows)
1/2 of a 15-oz can of crushed tomatoes (fire roasted, preferable)
2-3 T heavy cream
2-3 T sour cream or Mexican crema

In a saucepan, heat the achiote oil. Add the sofrito and saute about 5 min. Add the tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the creams.

To make the ACHIOTE OIL: heat about 2 T of achiote seeds (even the Safeway sells these here in Seattle) in about 1/2 C of olive oil. Heat slowly - when they start to sizzle, remove from heat and strain the oil. If the seeds turn black, just start over. Burnt seeds make oil taste bad.

To make the SOFRITO: I actually got the basis of this from Daisy Cooks. This is also a pretty flexible recipe. Sometimes I can't get all the ingredients, so I up one of the others. It still tastes awesome. And it freezes really well, so I just store 1/2 C increments in zippies in the freezer. To make, put the following in a food processor:
  - 1 large onion
  - 4-6 cloves of garlic
  - 2 roma tomatoes
  - 1-1.5 C of peppers - red bell, cubanelle, ajicito dulces, whatever you can find (sweet, though).
  - 1/2 C cilantro
  - some epazote if you can find it - 4-6 leaves
  - salt & pepper to taste

Putting it all together: in a baking dish, put the sauce, then place the stuffed chiles on top, and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake at 375-400F until melty and bubbly.

The sides! We can't forget accompaniments!!

RICE: I use my trusty rice cooker. For 1 C of rice and the designated amount of water, I also added 1 T of the achiote oil and 1/4 C of the sofrito and a pinch of salt. Then hit start. Or, if you do the stovetop method, heat the oil in a saucepan, add the sofrito. Add the rice. Cover with water, simmer until done.

BEANS: Now here is where I surprised myself. I didn't want refried beans, I just wanted some tasty charro type beans. And OMG these turned out AMAZING! You know, not to toot my own horn or anything, but dang.

2 slices bacon, diced
1 T achiote oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 C sofrito
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can crushed tomatoes (the rest of the can from the sauce above)
1/2-1C chicken broth
cumin (~2t), chili powder (~1t), salt & pepper to taste

Sautee the bacon in the oil until crisp. Add the jalapeno & soften (~2 min). Add the sofrito, sautee about 5 minutes. Add the rest and simmer about 10-15 minutes.

Then you serve! All is right in the world whilst you eat.

It's all about the Meat

2010-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, so yeah, it's been a while since I posted something here. My bad. Things have been crazy busy! But I still found time to eat regularly, thank goodness. :)

Recently, I wanted a big hunk of meat. So I head over to the butcher and get a couple fantastic looking Porterhouse steaks. I usually go for the bone-in Ribeye, but he was out. Regardless, YUM! There's a couple ways to do up a steak. One is throw it on a hot grill, cook to medium rare, remove & sprinkle with some good flaky salt and a drizzle of olive oil, or you can rub it down with a flavorful rub and serve with a fancy schmancy sauce. Or any other way you want, really. But these are the two ways we generally do it.

This time, there was rub going on.

The magic rub:

2 t black pepper
2 t dry mustard
2 t paprika
1 t garlic powder
1 t salt (sea or kosher)
1 t brown sugar
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Rub all over the steaks about 15-20 min before putting on the grill.

The magic sauce:

1/2 C ketchup
2 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T steak sauce (A1)
2 T molasses
2 t Dijon mustard
1 t garlic powder
1 T black pepper

Heat through in a saucepan over medium heat and serve warm.

Heat the grill to HOT. Brush the grates with oil, and slap on the meat. I like it cooked medium rare, so that equates to about 2-3 minutes per side. Once removed from the grill, let it rest about 5+ minutes. This is the most torturous 5 minutes ever, but it is worth it. You'll hear over and over how the resting period lets the meat juices redistribute, and these folks don't lie. It really is critical for a juicy, succulent steak throughout (not just the first bite).

As it is still summer, we of course, have corn to accompany it. Since it was huskless, we just grill it in some foil (I think I described this in a previous post). To repeat, run the corn under some cold water and then wrap in foil. Cook on the grill for about 25-30 minutes, turning occasionally. It'll steam itself yummy. Roll in some butter and sprinkle with fancy salt and eat.

I mean, look at this goodness. I'm drooling all over again.

Homemade Fruit Jam

2010-08-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Summertime == fruit bounty. I tend to get a bit over zealous at the farmer's markets when I see tables FULL of beautiful fresh fruit. I buy pounds of various items, and inevitably, I don't get a chance to eat all of it before it over-ripens or whatnot. So not to waste, I have started making fruit jams (and cobblers, and pies...). The two I recently made were apricot jam and raspberry jam. I'm pretty new to doing this - and I don't do the whole rigamaroll of canning since I only make 1 or 2 jars at a time from leftover fruit. I make it, put it in a canning jar or old jelly jar and keep in the fridge until it's gone. The recipe is pretty straightforward, and can be used for just about any fruits.

I did make this plum jam last fall that was simply amazing. I credit the fruit - it came from a neighbor's friend's tree, and they were the tastiest plums I've ever eaten. So it would make sense that they'd make the tastiest jam I'd ever eaten, too. But I digress. Back to apricots and raspberries!!

Apricot jam:
2+ lbs of apricots, seeded and cubed*
1 1/3 C sugar (or you can use sugar for preserves, if you want the jelly consistency)
1/4 C water
juice of 1 lemon (~2 T)

*Some people like just halving the apricots, but I don't like having big chunks of apricot skin in my jam, hence why I cut them smaller.

Start by melting the water and sugar together until it gets bubbly. Add half of the apricots, and let simmer about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the apricots and cook another 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir, and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and can or store.

Some yummy adders: a vanilla bean - add it in the sugar/water simmering step, and it'll infuse the jam with vanilla. You could also have a mixture of fruits here - apricot with a few strawberries, or raspberries, or whatever. Perhaps a cinnamon stick, for a woodsy note. Or some cardamom. The flavor choices are endless!

For the raspberry jam, since they're very watery to begin with, I omitted the water, and just put all the fruit and sugar together in the pot all at once. Simmered it for about 45 minutes, crushing the berries as I stirred. I actually messed this one up the first time - I didn't add enough sugar (I had about 2+ pints of raspberries and only added 1/4C of sugar) and it was way too tart. I even put it in jars and in the refrigerator. The next day, I put it back in a pan, added another 1/2C of sugar and let it bubble away for like 30 minutes, and rejarred it, and it's now super tasty. Like some of the best raspberry jam ever. Even with a mess-up start. Mess-ups come with learning something new! Thankfully this still turned out a-ok. :)

Fajitas!

2010-08-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Seattle, we've had a hell of a time finding decent Tex-Mex, especially good fajitas. So we've been on the hunt for a good recipe to make them at home. We stumbled upon one that got great reviews, and seems to be one of the easiest recipes ever. It's apparently the secret recipe to Pappasito's fajitas (yeah, I know, right?).

The original recipe goes as follows:
1 part pineapple juice
1 part soy sauce
1 part Mexican beer or water
Splash of teriyaki sauce
Marinate overnight.

We found that an overnight marinade made this too soy sauce-y, so we cut back a touch on that. Also added a couple crushed cloves of garlic and some lime juice (but only about 4 hrs prior to grilling; don't want to let it sit in lime too long). I also took the flank steak and cut it into 4 pieces before marinating to fit in the bag easier, grill up better, and easier to cut up when done.

Set the grill to hot, and grill the flank or skirt steak (we used flank this time because the butcher was out of skirt) for about 4-5 min/side until med-rare. Let rest before slicing thinly against the grain. Grilling the tortillas until warm is also really yummy.

Serve it with all the fixins: grilled peppers & onions, pico, guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and some refried beans.

A fantastic accompaniment to the fajitas is the margarita. Very simple recipe - just make sure to use top notch ingredients.

1.5 oz tequila
1 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4-1/2 oz agave syrup
(optional) 1/2 oz pomegranate juice

Put in a shaker with ice and shake. Serve in a salt-rimmed glass. Use kosher salt when rimming the glass - regular table salt is too strong and tastes weird. Rim the glass with some lime juice, then dip into the salt. Then pour the drink in. Drink. Repeat.

OMG OMG OMG

2010-08-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if you really understand my love and obsession for Marination Mobile. But I think they are fantastic. And for $10 you get a magical meal that transports you to Tastyville. So when I saw the following, I actually jumped for joy. Srsly.

They were on King5 and shared their kalbi short rib recipe!! It's similar to the one we use in our clone, but we're totally now going to try this version out next:

Kalbi Short Rib Marinade Recipe
From Marination Mobile
www.marinationmobile.com

2lbs beef short ribs
¼ C Soy Sauce
1/8 C Sugar
4 T Sesame Seed Oil
4 -5 green onions, finely chopped
2 T Rice Wine
2 t grated ginger
1 ½ t Korean chili pepper flakes
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
1 Asian pear

Combine all the ingredients except the short ribs and mix together thoroughly. Add the short ribs to the marinade, stirring to coat all of them. Let the short ribs marinate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

Grill the kalbi short ribs over high heat, about 2-3 minutes on each side. The ribs will be seared on the outside, while rare on the inside and finishing to medium rare while they rest.

Note: Beef short ribs are often times called flanken cut short ribs and can be found at most grocery stores.

So go forth, my friends, and kalbi everything in sight. It shall be a tasty feast!

Maple Rubbed & Bourbon Glazed Pork Chops

2010-08-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Maple products are something you can't really get locally in Seattle. Not without paying an exorbitant amount. Then I found this mail-order place in Vermont - Vermont Trade Winds - from which I now order all my maple goods. I buy their maple sugar in bulk (goes great in your coffee), of course the maple syrup, the pancake mix is pretty tasty, love the maple walnuts and maple cream, but the big surprise winner from them is their maple dry rub. I got a sample of it a while ago and finally decided to try it out. OMG, it makes meat so tasty!!

So now a recurring meal is the maple rubbed pork chops. Last night we served it simply with some grilled corn.

First, brine the pork chops. We actually like the thin chops best for this, the rub soaks through all awesome and it grills up really quickly. Brine is the same as with the chicken in a previous post (4 C water, 1/8 C salt, 1/8 C sugar, for 30 min). Pat dry and rub the maple rub generously on all sides.

Meanwhile, for the glaze, heat ~1/2 C maple syrup with ~1/8 - 1/4 C bourbon until reduced a bit. This takes about 10-15 minutes.
Heat the grill to ~400, and grill the chops ~3-4 minutes per side until done. For the last 3-4 minutes, slop some glaze on them and they'll get all caramely and bourbony.

It's actually really good with some garlic potatoes, but I didn't have any potatoes in the house so we had to forgo them. I'll give you the how-to on them anyway:
Boil potatoes. I like the fingerlings for this. Cut them in ~1-2" pieces. Melt butter + olive oil in a skillet. Put in the potatoes. Season with salt & pepper. Add a crapload of fresh crushed garlic. And by crapload, I mean a lot: ~1/2 head for a pound of potatoes. Cook until golden. The garlicky potatoes actually pair well with the sweetness of the maple chops.

There you have it! A simple, quick weeknight meal. And why not have some pie for dessert... :)

Mixed Berry PIE

2010-08-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

'nuf said.

I bought a half-flat of mixed local berries, and though try as I might to stuff them all in my face fresh, I couldn't eat them all. So I had a bit more than half left - 1 1/2pt blueberries, 1 of blackberries, and 1 of raspberries. I washed them and put them in a large bowl. I added the juice of 1 small lemon, about 1/2 C of sugar, and about 3 T of flour. Mix it together to cover the fruit, then add as the pie filling. Some options to get fancy schmancy are the various pie enhancers/thickeners from King Arthur, but they're not really necessary. The awesomeness of the fresh fruit is plenty enough to make this kick ass.

Pie Crust (enough for top and bottom of a 9" pie) - this is a recipe from my mom-in-law, who is a pie magician. :)
Mix with a fork until crumbly:

3/4 C shortening (or 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening)
1 1/2 C flour (King Arthur sells a great flour for pies - the "perfect pastry" flour)
1 T sugar

Mix separately in a pourable container (small measuring cup):

2 T ice cold water
1 t rice vinegar

Blend in the liquid into the flour mixture with a fork until it just comes together. Divide the dough in half, and let rest about 30 min in the fridge. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out between sheets of parchment or wax paper. Gently drape one portion into the pie pan, careful not to stretch it into shape (but rather lift and let it fall where it should be - you don't want it to shrink when baking). Fill with the mixed berry filling, cover with the other portion of rolled out pie dough. Crimp the edges to seal (I tuck the top layer under the bottom layer, then crimp around). Cut a couple slits in the top so it doesn't explode. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then cover the edges/crust with foil (so it doesn't burn). Bake another 30 minutes or so until it's bubbly and golden.

LET IT COOL COMPLETELY. Ok, it isn't super necessary, but if you don't cool it, the berry yumminess won't gel and when you cut into it, it'll pour out of the pie all over the place. So the key is to cool it completely, even refrigerate, then cut slices, and reheat them if you want it warm. However, I didn't do that, 'cause I really wanted to eat the pie NOW and was impatient, so I cut into it anyway. It was still super tasty and awesome. Just there was a bit of a berry puddle around the pie. Whatevs. Pie is pie, am I right??

Top with some fresh whipped cream, and it's pie-a-licious.

Grilled Quesadillas

2010-08-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

We love the Big Green Egg. It is awesome. I cannot say enough good things about it. It makes ordinary noms awesome. Take, for instance, the quesadilla. Yes, yes, I know, I had you at queso... But stick with me! Try grilling it, and it's that much more tasty.

This is filled with refried beans, grilled onions and red bell pepper, grilled chicken, a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, and my weight in cheese. Layer between 2 flour tortillas, lightly brush the tortillas with oil (or butter) throw on a medium grill for a couple minutes per side, and this is what you have. Slice up and serve with pico, salsa, guacamole, some sour cream, fresh shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and/or whatever else you like.

For the innards, here are some methods to git it done:

Refried Beans
Easy way: Sautee some finely chopped onion or shallot and jalapeno in some bacon grease (or oil). Add a can of good refried beans and smoosh around with a touch of water to loosen it until it's smooth and heated through. You could also use a can of drained and rinsed pinto beans and mush them in this with a potato masher. Or use black beans.

Grilled Onions and Peppers
Slice the onion in rings, about 1/2-3/4" wide. Slice the pepper into 4 strips. Brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until softened and charred (~10 min).

Grilled Chicken
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs give great flavor, but I also use chicken breasts. Just be careful not to overcook the breasts as they will dry out.
Remove any excess fat pockets and veins and stuff from the chicken.
For extra moistiness and flavor, brine the chicken. This is pretty easy - Fill a large bowl with 4 C of water. Add 1/8 C salt + 1/8 C sugar, stir to dissolve. Add the chicken, and brine for 30 minutes. Remove from brine and pat dry.
Season with pepper and, in this case I'm going for a Mexican flavor, some Tex-Mex seasoning (a blend of cumin, coriander, oregano, chili powder, garlic...). A decent all-purpose seasoning is the Goya Adobo seasoning.
Grill over med heat until the internal temp reaches ~160 degrees (it'll continue to cook another 3-5 degrees when removed). This is about 8-10 minutes, but could be more/less depending on the size and thickness of the chicken.
For the quesadillas, I wait until it cools a little, then shred the meat.

A tip on the cheese - try to buy blocks of cheese and grate it yourself. The pre-shredded stuff has additives to keep it from sticking together, and sometimes it tastes funny. But if you have no time, I guess it'll do. It's better than no cheese at all, right? :)

Pasta

2010-07-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

A good pasta doesn't have to be complicated - if you start with good, quality ingredients, you'll get good, quality food (and it's not just Papa John's).

I make this quick pasta (sometimes with sausage) on nights I don't have much time, but want something warm and filling.

This time, I used chicken sausage. PCC actually makes a really tasty chicken Italian sausage. Isernio's does, too, but I prefer PCC's.

I don't use a specific recipe for this - it depends on how much you want to make. But it's easy to guesstimate this one - its' hard to screw up. So here's the rundown:

In a skillet, heat up some olive oil. Add in the sausage (if bought links, remove the casings) and break it up as it cooks. After the sausage is cooked through and browned, add a clove or two of crushed garlic. Let it warm up and activate the garlicky goodness for about 30 seconds. You could also add some crushed red chili flakes for some heat. Add some good canned tomato sauce (for 3/4-1 lb of meat, you could use ~1 15oz can of sauce). Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of marjoram and oregano. Let it simmer while the pasta's cooking. For additional flavor, you could add some fresh chopped parsley, or some fresh basil (basil would go in right before serving). If you want to make it a little decadent, add a couple tablespoons of heavy cream.

If you don't use sausage - put the oil and garlic in a cold pan and heat it up slowly - this will help release all the garlic yum into the oil. Once heated, proceed with the rest of the recipe.

I like getting my pasta from the refrigerated section - the fresh stuff. Or make your own (but in the essence of time, that's not usually an after-work activity). It cooks up in no time and tastes awesome. Don't forget to add a generous amount of salt to the boiling water.

When the pasta is done (al-dente), add it to the meat sauce and coat the pasta - letting it finish cooking in the sauce. If it's a bit too dry, add a bit of the pasta water to the mix. Serve it up sprinkled with some parmesan and you're set!

I found some tasty garlic & rosemary bread at PCC, so I just drizzled it with a touch of olive oil, a sprinkle of grated parm, and toasted it.

Pork Tacos

2010-07-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

There's this awesome Korean-Hawaiian taco truck that I'm totally obsessed with here. It's called Marination Mobile. I heart them so hard. I am sad I cannot get their delicious fare for dinner, or when they're far away somewhere. I was so excited when they started coming to Columbia City on Sundays... It was a magical day.

But I digress. After feasting upon their bounty, I set upon imitating it at home. Though it's not exactly like theirs, it's my own interpretation, and I think, good in its own right. For the meat part, I use leftovers - from brisket, ribs (off the bone of course), chicken (of pretty much any type), pork, kalbi beef, teriyaki tofu... The mobile cart has these Spam sliders that are TO DIE FOR. Never thought I'd like Spam. But I think it's my favorite thing from Marination. I bought a can of Spam, but haven't yet made anything from it....

In this meal, it was the grilled pork from a couple days ago. I sliced it up thinly, heated in a pan with the sauce leftover from the potsticker night.

We usually serve in some King's Hawaiian rolls, too, but didn't get a chance to go to the store to get them. So just used tortillas. Which, by the way, we found some killer corn/wheat tortillas that are really tasty. They're from La Tortilla Factory, "hand made style corn tortillas."

Here are the recipes for the various parts:

Spicy Aioli:

1/2 C mayo (homemade or store bought)
1-2 T sugar
1-2 T rice vinegar
1-2+ T Sriracha (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 clove garlic, grated (or ~1/4 t powder)

Whisk together until smooth.

Slaw:
Whisk together:

1/2 C rice vinegar
1/4 C water
1 T mirin
2-3 T sugar
1 t salt
1 T pickled ginger, chopped fine
dash of the pickled ginger juice
(optional) splash sesame oil

Toss this with finely shredded/thinly sliced cabbage, carrot, green onion and cilantro right before serving. (A good ratio is: 1/2 head cabbage, 1 med-lg carrot (grated), 3 green onions, small handful of cilantro.)

I usually keep the shredded veggies in a zippie, and the dressing in a jar, then as I make the tacos/wraps/sandwiches I quickly toss just the amount I need.

Then just layer:
tortilla or roll
aioli
meat
slaw
diced pickled jalapenos
Sometimes I add in some avocado, but alas, not this time. We heated up a couple mini-eggrolls instead. :)

This is an awesome way to use up some leftovers - it's a regular repeat at our house!

The Magic of the Squirrel

2010-07-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

With the attic renovation going on, and having to work late... We decided to go out Tuesday night. We enjoyed going to the Flying Squirrel Pizza Co, just a couple blocks from the house.

First, it's really dangerous to have a good pizza place within walking distance.

Second, I love this place.

We had one of our usuals - a 1/2 and 1/2 with the #10 (bacon & arugula) and the Roy's BBQ chicken, with Mama's Lil' Peppers all over. OMG, it's just so good. We were experimenting making pizza at home, on the BGE, but with Squirrel next door, why? They're so tasty, and I don't have to wait for dough to rise... So we still do homemade pizza every now and then, but just not with that zeal of having to figure it out 'cause we can't get good pizza around here attitude.

If you're in the area, Squirrel rocks. The #2 & 3 are standard awesomeness, and you don't even have to ask for garlic, it's standard. #5 is different, but really tasty - and filling. The #8 is a surprise hit - who'da thunk that egg on a pizza is good? It's kinda California-y, but definitely not hoity. I could actually go down the list of the pizzas, but I think that would take too long. Pretty much they're all good. :)

Now I'm off to figure out tonight's dinner... The flooring guys are still here (at 6:30pm), so I can't yet run out to the store to get some things I wanted... Perhaps we'll just dine on leftovers or a big salad...

Potstickers with Dipping Sauce

2010-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I made a big batch of wontons/potstickers. They are great for making ahead - I keep them in a zippie in the freezer, then cook a batch when we want a quick meal.

To make them, I actually use Alton Brown's recipe - it's really good. And easy. I usually make a double batch of this - it takes a while, and I prefer to just do a bunch at once.

1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 C finely chopped green onion
2 T finely chopped red bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 t ketchup
1 t yellow mustard
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t light brown sugar
1.5 t kosher salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
35-40 wonton wrappers

Put everything but the wonton wrappers in a bowl, mix to combine. Lay out a few wonton wrappers, brush the edges with water, put about a teaspoon of filling in it, and fold over. Alton has a few methods for wrapping, I just use the standard triangle with 2 folds on both sides (see picture). I lay them out not touching on a sheet pan, then stick in the freezer for a few hours (or overnight). Once frozen, you can pile them in a zippie. If you put them in a bag to start, they will most definitely stick together in one big clump when they freeze.

When I made them over the weekend, I didn't buy enough wonton wrappers... So I had a bit of the meat mixture left over. No worries, and no wasting, I just cooked them like little meatballs to serve with the wontons. Ta-da!

To cook up a batch, I heat up a skillet with some oil. Place however many potstickers you want to cook (frozen is fine). When they get browned on the one side, pour some chicken broth over them and cover with a lid. Steam for a few minutes, until cooked through. They'll look wrinkly when done (like the picture).

I like to serve them over a bed of cilantro leaves with this sauce:

In a saucepan, heat:
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C chicken broth
1 T white vinegar
1/2 T chile oil
1/2 t chile paste (to taste)
1 T sugar
1/2 t fresh grated garlic
dash sesame oil

You could put the sauce in a little bowl for dipping, or do as I do and just pour it over the potstickers. Serve and eat!

Once you have the wontons premade in the freezer, this meal takes all of 10 minutes to make. Perfect for a rushed weeknight.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

2010-07-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner: grilled pork tenderloin with some of that tasty jalapeno jelly, some fresh grilled corn on the cob, and a salad.

How it's made:

Pork tenderloin - we wanted leftovers of this (to make various other meals from during the week), so we took about 2 lbs of pork tenderloin. Rubbed it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then Mark got the Egg at about 350 degrees, added some wood chunks (for a nice smokey flavor), and grilled the tenderloin until it reached 155, and let it set about 5-10 minutes (it got up to 160, which is perfect for pork). It's kinda hard to see, but there's a nice smoke ring on the slices of pork. MMM. Then just slice and serve atop the jelly! It is mega juicy - the Big Green Egg is a magical piece of equipment.

The corn - we got these from Amazon Fresh (amazingly they have very tasty, fresh corn). The only drawback - they don't come in full husks; they pull off about 1/2 the husk. So we can just throw it on the grill 'cause it'll burn that half that isn't covered. So we wrap it in foil and put that on the grill. About 30 minutes later, unwrap, remove the husk, and serve with a bit of butter and salt (we use fancy French sea salt).

The salad - is exactly how I described it yesterday. :)

Baked Brie with Baguette

2010-07-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Thurs, 7/15, Mark and I have been together 10 years. To celebrate, we had an old staple we bring out every now and then. Baked brie with a jalapeno jelly, served with fresh baguette and a bottle of wine. Easy, and heavenly.

Start the meal with a small salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, and you're set!

We use different kinds of brie each time - experimenting with which one we like better. Yesterday's selection was a nice French triple creme called Saint Andre. It has more "middle" and less rind, but I actually like the bite of rind... It's a tasty brie, though. And not too expensive (it's about mid-range).

For the jalapeno jelly, we've tried looking around for something local, but haven't found anything that beats the jelly from the Texas Tamale Company - we order direct from them. YUM. It's not even that spicy, it's just got a nice sweet & savory flavor.

On a side note, this stuff is awesome with pork. Sometime this week (possibly tonight) we will be grilling up a pork tenderloin. Slices of that with some of this jelly will be just amazing. It's also good slathered on toast or cornbread.

But I digress.

I put the brie in a dish, put it in a cold oven (a toaster oven actually, since it puts off less heat and this is so small) and heat it to about 300-350. You'll see the creamy part start melting away and pulling away from the rind. I then put on a couple tablespoons of the jalapeno jelly and heat through a couple more minutes. You don't want the brie to completely melt away - so just warm it through and toast the rind a touch (otherwise it'll just separate into cream and grease, and that's not so tasty). In the picture above, you see the center portion of the brie is still together, but the outer edges have melted. Usually the brie with a smaller portion of cream heats a bit more evenly, but whatever. This still works out fine.

We get our baguette from one of the best bakeries in the city - Columbia City Bakery - which happens to be only a mile or two from the house (awesome). I slice it up thin on a sharp angle (better biting and looks prettier), and place them in a small bowl in a towel. No need to toast if fresh.

We tried a new pinot noir with this, a Mahoney Vineyards Carneros 2006. It was about $25. We found it a bit high on the acidic side, not extremely balanced. It worked ok to cut through the creaminess of the brie, but just to drink alone, not the best. We probably won't buy it again. But it still got drunken. :)

If you want a simple quick balsamic vinaigrette, here is what I do every time:

In the salad bowl, put a dollop of Dijon mustard. Add balsamic vinegar (for the everyday use, I like the Spectrum balsamic). A pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Add extra virgin olive oil (for an every day not-to-cook-with olive oil, I like the Lucini Premium Select stuff). Whisk. Put the greens on top and toss when ready to serve (see in the picture how the dressing is at the bottom of the bowl; this is a good way to make the salad ahead of time. It won't wilt the greens this way.). I like a high-vinegar dressing - I go with 1-2 parts vinegar to 1 part oil. You can change it to whatever flavor you want. A nice adder is a small clove of garlic, grated on a microplane into it. It's not worth buying bottles of dressing when making your own is so easy and you know everything that goes in it. I've got a few salad meals, so I'll post the recipes as we make them. But this balsamic is Mark's favorite. :)

Chocolate Syrup

2010-07-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

Before I go make the delicious souvlaki, I will post about the other thing I made today. Mark ran out of chocolate syrup, so I made some more. We used to use Hershey's syrup... But then I found this recipe and it's so easy and WAY more awesome. But I kept the Hershey's squeeze bottle to be the container for this yummy chocolate decadence. Do not be fooled by its appearance in my fridge, however. The guts are all homemade. Next time I'm going to add a touch of espresso powder, see if that makes it even more awesome.

Chocolate Syrup
1 C water
1.5 C sugar
2 T corn syrup
1/8 - 1/4 t salt
Bring the above items to a boil, immediately remove from heat and whisk in:
1.5 C Dutch process cocoa (I get mine from King Arthur)
1 T vanilla (today I used Mexican vanilla)
Cool, put in a squeeze bottle, and refrigerate. It's seriously that simple. I will never buy chocolate syrup again!

BTW - the corn syrup is necessary. Otherwise it'll crystallize if you don't use it quickly. It's not HFCS, so it's OK. :)

Souvlaki

2010-07-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we feast on souvlaki!

Well, if the guys doing construction finish up on the deck and let us use the grill... Otherwise, I guess I can grill up the chicken bits inside. Which is probably what we'll have to do, 'cause it's 5:26pm and the birdblocking dude just got here. But hey, food is all about improv! Well, sometimes. ;)

I try to find good, healthy things to cook at home. Granted, we love to go out and eat, too. And I also love making decadently bad for you food. But everyday, I aim for lighter fare. And this grilled chicken souvlaki is one of them.

The recipe is really simple:
In the morning, I cut up a couple chicken breasts into cubes (for skewering), and put them in a zippie.
For the marinade (the qty's are estimates - I generally eyeball everything):
1/4 C lemon juice (about 1.5-2 lemons)
1-2 T red wine vinegar
1-1.5 T fresh chopped oregano
1 T fresh chopped thyme
1 T minced garlic
1.5 T olive oil
salt & pepper

Marinate the chicken all day. Skewer up and grill it.

For the tzatziki sauce:
7 oz plain greek yogurt (I use a yogurt that comes in 7oz containers, so that's what I go with. Again, this recipe is fairly flexible and can be adapted to your taste)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small cucumber
1 T dill
salt & pepper

This is best made the day before serving (though try to give it at least 2 hours to meld). Seed and dice the cucumber, put in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let it sit for ~30 minutes. This will help draw out some moisture. Pat dry on a towel. Put the cucumber in a food processor with everything except the yogurt. Process smooth. Fold into the yogurt. Done.

I like to grill up the pitas also, they get all warm and yummy.

Then serve with the chicken and yogurt. I also add shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and diced sweet onion. And sometimes some feta crumbles.

So that is dinner tonight. Perhaps with some sparkling water.

I hope you all have a fantastic night! I'm hungry, so I'm out. :)

About me

2010-07-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I once had an online cooking show... idratherbecooking.com, but it is now defunct. Just didn't have time, and my film guy/editor flaked out (thanks, Adam!). ;) My vids are still up on youtube, though.
So anyway, time passed and I started blogging about my efforts to build a kayak... And now blogging about the remodel going on in the house. More just to keep inquiring friends and family in the loop of what's going on. Then today I was told "less blogging about remodel, more blogging about food!" So here I am, starting a food blog. Some posts might even have pictures....!
This is for you, Rebecca. :)